An Essential Disposition of a Disciple-Maker
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Recently I watched a video where a parent was asked the question, “if you could see into the future and find out just one thing what would it be?”
Without hesitation that parent replied, “I would want to know if my child’s life turns out OK.”
They did not say, “I want to know the winning lottery numbers” or “I want to know the cure to cancer.” What was foremost on their mind was the well being of their child.
I have six boys and not a day goes by where I don’t think about their well being. Often times I think about, and I wonder, and I pray for their futures. What kind of men will they become? What kind of families will they raise? What kind of impact will they make for Jesus? What kind of impact will they make for the gospel?
The older I get, the more I realize that I have so very little time to spend with my kids. I have such a short time to influence their lives in such a way that they actually become mature in their faith and in their walk with Christ, so that they are ready to go out into the world and replicate their own faith in the lives of others, not least of which, hopefully, their own families. In other words, my heart longing is to impact not only my generation for Christ, but my sons generation, and their sons generation. I want a lasting impact, a lasting legacy for the gospel. How in the world does one go about doing that?
One of my greatest fears is voiced by Moses in Deut 4
24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
25 When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
Eventually, my children will leave the nest, they will venture out on their own. What happens if they corrupt themselves? What happens if they allow a spiritual idol to creep into their lives, and they waste their lives away? How do you prevent that from happening?
What I want instead is a Deut 6.1-2 outcome.
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
What I want is an Eph 3.21 outcome
21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Dads, how do we reach our kids generation, and their kids generation, and for generations to come? How do we have that kind of impact on our families? How can we ensure that, should the Lord tarry, our great-great-great-great grand children will be passionate disciples for Christ?
These questions for dads lead to similar kinds of questions for our church:
Faith Baptist Church, how do we reach our Jerusalem, how do we reach our current generation? How do we ensure that for generation after generation after generation, should the Lord tarry, that God will be glorified in this church? How do we ensure that we leave behind a multi-generation impact for the gospel of Jesus Christ?
In other words, how do we become the kind of disciple-makers that God wants us to be?
Paul explained to the Thessalonian believers that what enabled him to be so successful a disciple-maker was genuine relationships as a father with his own children.
Fathers and fellow believers of Faith Baptist Church, if we are to be successful disciple-makers, then we must cultivate genuine relationships as a father with his own children.
What needs to take place for that to happen? What would we need to do, practically, to put into place that kind of disciple-making into place in our homes and in our church?
I. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor to pattern their lives after (v. 10)
I. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor to pattern their lives after (v. 10)
10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
If you remember back to mother’s day we looked at the passage just before v. 10, where Paul credited the success of his gospel witness to the tender caring heart of a nursing mother.
7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:
8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
I think one of the key ideas in v. 9 is that as they labored and travailed along side of the Thessalonians, working night and day, they developed relationships with the people, and out of those growing relationships God gave Paul and his associates the tender loving heart of a nursing mother.
Eventually, as they worked alongside of the Thessalonians and in the midst of the Thessalonians, all the while Paul was preaching unto them the gospel, and eventually, these people trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. They became believers. This transition seems to take place from v. 9 to v. 10. In v.9 Paul is preaching to them the gospel. And in v. 10 he is talking to those that believed.
So think about this, Paul wins these people to Jesus. And he did it in such a way that he has already developed deep personal relationships with them. Now, how does Paul’s ministry toward these believers progress? Does he say, well your saved now, my work is done. See ya later! No way! He continues to teach them, he continues to work with them, actual doing the work of making disciples. What does Paul’s disciple-making ministry look like?
In v. 10 Paul talks about his behavior. Why does Paul talk about his behavior?
Because it provides measurable evidence of Paul’s own growth toward Christlikeness.
10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
10 ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες καὶ ὁ θεός*,
You are witnesses and so is God,
ὡς ὁσίως
how devoutly (holy)
καὶ δικαίως
and uprightly (justly)
καὶ ἀμέμπτως
and blamelessly
ὑμῖν τοῖς ⸀πιστεύουσιν ἐγενήθημεν*,
we behaved toward you believers,
Paul uses three descriptive words/adverbs to help us get a picture of behavior .
Holily- This is not the normal word for holiness. This word speaks to the way people conformed to what was ordained or permitted by deity. Probably the best way to translate this word is that Paul acted piously. There was true genuine spirituality within Paul that caused him to live exactly the way Christ wanted him to live. Paul was the real deal. He was a genuine mature disciple of Jesus Christ. That genuineness about Paul came from an inward disposition of delight and conviction and eagerness to spend his life for Jesus and for the gospel.
One person recently described exactly what living piously feels like. Think about the new believer in Christ as a small candle. It is burning, but left on its own it will dwindle and flicker and never grow beyond a small flame. Now think of someone like Paul, a mature believer in Christ. If a new believer is like a candle, Paul would be like a raging bonfire. All you have to do is get close to him, and naturally you fell like you are on fire for Christ and for the gospel. There is an inner piety that can’t be faked.
I have also heard of this described as an intoxicating aroma. You get around someone who is a mature believer in Christ and there is a pleasing aroma of the gospel and of Jesus Christ.
In other words, there is a genuineness to their testimony, there is a depth to their relationship, there is strength to their testimony. There is inward devotion to God, that is inward piety. It is something that only God can cultivate and only comes from genuine growth toward Christlikeness. It is a result of the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit called sanctification were-by one actually practically becomes like Christ. That person is like a bonfire because they radiate Christ because they have become practically more like Christ. They give off an aroma of Christ because they personally have become just like Him in some small way.
Paul said, you are witnesses, you and God- how we behaved- holily/devoutly/piously.
Justly- to quality of character, thought, or behavior, correctly, justly, uprightly
This is a justice term, a legal courtroom term-
The thief on the cross uses this term for himself:
41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
Suffering correctly or deservedly, our suffering is upright or just.
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
God is said to judge uprightly or fairly.
Here when Paul uses it to describe his behavior, the idea is everything about his life had become upright or correct or that which was deserving of the inward transformation that had taken place. Because there was genuine Christlike practical transformation taking place, because there was really spirituality in Paul- his behavior became transformed to such a degree that its quality was nothing less than upright. Not perfect. But there was a genuine notable difference in Paul’s character, his thought, and his behavior. As there should be an any believer who has grown unto some level of maturity. Again, not perfection! Nobody is perfect. But because of Jesus Christ and the work of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit there was a difference in Paul and justifiably so.
Unblameably: blamelessly. Used esp. in the Gr-Rom. world of people of extraordinary civic consciousness-Fill the role of an office blamelessly. Paul’s behavior in his role of fulfilling the great commission in the lives of the Thessalonians was so complete that he was blameless/ above reproach. No one could save of Paul that he was not disciple of Christ, nor could they save that he did not strive to make disciples of Jesus Christ. He was a great commission minded believer through and through.
Could you imagine how much you would grow in Christlikeness if you had someone like that personally interested in your spiritual walk? What if you had that kind of spiritual role model to show you the behavior of what a mature disciple in Christ ought to look like? Do you think that would go a long way toward helping you take the Christian life seriously?
What if everyone in our church had a spiritual role-model to pattern their lives after? What if everyone had someone else who on a regular basis, though a deep personal relationship, over a long period of time, helped each other become mature Christlike disciples? Do you think that would help us reach our own generation with the gospel?
Dads, what if you were that kind of spiritual role-model to your own kids? What if every time your kids got around you it was like a candle being thrown into a bonfire? What if you were the overpowering aroma of Christ in their life? Do you think that would make an impact? Do you think that would cause them to want to imitate you? The truth is your kids already imitate you. But what if you developed genuine Christlikeness in your own walk, and you became infectious with it toward your kids? And what if you taught them to do the same thing for their own kids one day? Do you think that might be a successful strategy for reaching your sons and your grandsons with the gospel? Do think that it just might be possible to leave behind a legacy where generation after generation after generation become passionate mature disciples of Jesus Christ?
This is exactly what happened in the Thessalonian church!
5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
What manner of men we proved to be among you for your sake! In other words we proved to be people with the right kind of behavior/ we were actually Christlike- and it was for your sake! And then what happened?
6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
Call me crazy, but what if we followed this exact model in our own church? What if everyone had their own spiritual mentor, and they themselves were someone else’s spiritual mentor?
What if we followed this exact model, dads, in our homes. Your number one top priority in being a spiritual mentor to someone else is your children. Dads, you must step up, and you must be a spiritual mentor to your kids! You must be able to say to your kids, become an imitator of me and of the Lord! And then guess what happens? Our kids will become examples to all the believers! One day, our kids will go out of the nest, and they will become a spiritual mentor to someone else! One day they will become the spiritual mentor for their own children and they will teach them to do likewise and so on and so on. And then you get Eph 3.21
21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Fathers and fellow believers of Faith Baptist Church, if we are to be successful disciple-makers, then we must cultivate genuine relationships as a father with his own children.
What needs to take place for that to happen? What would we need to do, practically, to put into place that kind of disciple-making into place in our homes and in our church?
II. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor with the passionate heart of a father (v. 11)
II. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor with the passionate heart of a father (v. 11)
11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
11 καθάπερ οἴδατε,
Just as you have been knowing,
ὡς ἕνα ἕκαστον ὑμῶν
how with each one of you,
ὡς πατὴρ τέκνα ἑαυτοῦ*
as a father with his own child
παρακαλοῦντες °ὑμᾶς
Exhorting you
καὶ παραμυθούμενοι
and encouraging
καὶ μαρτυρόμενοι
and imploring
How do you think Paul viewed the work of the Great Commission? Do you think that Paul subscribed to some easy believe-ism, well your saved so your good, see ya later! I don’t think so.
I wonder if we haven’t bought into this kind of approach to the Great Commission? And actually I wonder if we have been taught this in our own circles! Tell me that this doesn’t sound like the thinking in our own circles. “If I can get them saved, if I can get them baptized, if I can get them to join a church, if they come on a fairly regular basis, and if they give an offering- then they are good!” Honestly, as a pastor, that’s what I have been taught. That, I think, is the mentality of a lot of our churches. BUT, that is not the mentality of the Apostle Paul.
Again, Paul uses three words to help us understand his passion for disciple-making.
Exhorted- 109 x’s in the NT. To urge strongly, to make a strong request for someth.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Calling someone over to your side- like drawing a line in the sand and then pleading with someone to come over and stand beside you, to stand with you.
So the Thessalonians were now believers, but was that good enough for Paul? No- there was Paul standing on one side, and on the other side were the Thessalonians. Newly saved, still standing with one or two feet in the world, with no idea how or why they should be something different. And then along comes Paul, and he is urging them, on a constant basis, step out of the world, come over to my side, follow me as I follow Christ. But why Paul?- because of the mercies of God (Rom 12.1).
This word means to strongly urge. How strongly? As a father would with his own child! I have had those conversations with my children. When they are mad at you, sometimes they even turn their back to you and they won’t look at you, and you come along side them and you pour your heart out to them. You urge them, you compel them, you exhort them. You say think about how your actions will effect your eternity! Think about the consequences of your sin. Imagine how God will bless you if you do the right thing! Dads do you exhort your kids?
What if you had someone in the church that would come along side you and exhort you. They would call you stand alongside them and they follow Christ. And imagine if they did it with the passionate heart of a father for their own kids. Do you think that would be beneficial in your spiritual walk?
Comforted- console, cheer up, to encourage
14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
When you kids are sick what do you want to do for them?
Imagine your kids were being bullied at at school and they came home and they were down, how would you try to comfort them?
Imagine you had a rough week, you are down and tired and worn out, and you come to church and there is your spiritual mentor that cares personally about you, and they spend all of Sunday morning encouraging you, comforting you, consoling you. Do you think that would be a help spiritually? How do they encourage you? As a father would for his own children? Do you think that would produce a successful disciple-making ministry in a local church?
Dads are you an encourage-er to your kids? I am just finding out how effective encouragement is in the lives of my kids. It is like 100 x’s more potent that admonishment. Sometimes it is necessary to admonish, but when you can encourage the results are amazing.
Charged- to affirm someth. with solemnity, testify, bear witness. to urge someth. as a matter of great importance, affirm, insist, implore
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
This is the idea of imploring someone to do right, by means of your testimony. You bear witness, you testify, you affirm the truth of the gospel and of the value of being a disciple of Christ.
When you shop online (Amazon) what is one of the things that you always look for before you buy something? How highly did other people rate this product? You want someone who has personally experienced this item to affirm its value to you. Even better, if you can get the testimony or the affirmation of someone you know personally, you are even more certain to make that purchase.
You need someone in your life that can personally give you a five star rating concerning spending your life for the sake of the gospel. You need someone to urge you by means of their own personal testimony that following Jesus is the right thing to do.
And again Paul did this as a father for his own children.
So if Paul thought about disciple making this way- if Paul personally, consistently urged, encouraged, and affirmed the importance of following Christ for these believers, and if Paul did all of these things with the same passion that a father has for his own children, then how long do you think Paul’s relationship with these believers lasted?
Do you think Paul, immediately after salvation, said, “OK, your good, see ya later”?
Do you think Paul, after their salvation, lead them through a 12 week discipleship class, and then said, “OK, your good, see ya later”?
Do you think that Paul would have been satisfied if they became members of the church, came on a regular basis, and gave something in the offering?
How long do you think Paul intended his disciple-making relationship to continue?
How long does a father continue urging, encouraging, and affirming the gospel in the lives of his own children?
What if everyone in our church had a spiritual mentor, and they themselves were someones spiritual mentor, and we all had the passionate heart of a father so that we thought about disciple-making as a life long commitment? Do you think we might be able with that kind of ministry to reach generation after generation after generation for the gospel of Jesus?
Fathers and fellow believers of Faith Baptist Church, if we are to be successful disciple-makers, then we must cultivate genuine relationships as a father with his own children.
What needs to take place for that to happen? What would we need to do, practically, to put into place that kind of disciple-making into place in our homes and in our church?
III. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor with a well-developed spiritual road map (v. 12)
III. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor with a well-developed spiritual road map (v. 12)
12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
εἰς τὸ περιπατεῖν ὑμᾶς ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ
so that you would walk in a manner worthy of God
τοῦ ⸀καλοῦντος ὑμᾶς
the One calling you
εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ βασιλείαν καὶ δόξαν*.
Into His own Kingdom and glory.
Here we find Paul’s purpose statement. Why did Paul build relationships with the Thessalonian believers? Why did Paul continue those relationships for life with these believers? Why did Paul model exemplary behavior, why did he personally demonstrate what mature Christlikeness looks like? Why did he have the passion in his heart of a father for his own children? Why did he spend his life exhorting, encouraging, and imploring these believers to live for the gospel? What was Paul’s well thought out purpose in doing his Great Commission ministry?
So that you would walk in a manner worthy of God
That ought to be the goal of our disciple making ministry. It is not enough to only give people the gospel and then go through a 12 week class and then call them good. Paul’s goal was to so throughly teach them, that every part of their lives would be lived in a manner worthy of God.
And notice how far Paul’s road map goes into his plan for developing Christlikeness! He wanted them to walk worthy of God. And what has God done in the lives of the saints? He is the one calling them unto what? God is calling (pres, act, part), He is continually calling us every moment of our lives, unto what? His own kingdom and glory. So where did Paul’s road map for spiritual growth stop? It went all the way to the Kingdom! When can you say, “I have arrived! I now know enough, I have grown enough, to be practically worthy of the kingdom and glory of God”? Do we ever “arrive” practically at that point?
Positionally, we are worthy of the kingdom and glory of God only because of the cross work and the resurrection work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. But Paul’s aim was for them to practically walk worthy of God. His goal was to so transform peoples lives that as closely as possible their entire orientation was rearranged so that now they are living for the Kingdom of God and the glory of God.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you have a spiritual mentor in this church, and you were committed to walking worthy of God together for the rest of your lives. And your entire goal was to continually keep growing in your practical walk so that every stage of your life was strategically lived for the kingdom of God and the glory of God? Wouldn’t it be cool if we did that kind of personal relationship ministry of one life to a life for life, it just never stopped? Once you finished with one stage of spiritual maturity you just entered into the next stage and the next and the next and you just kept growing together? Could you imagine if you have someone like the apostle Paul would commited his life to your life for life to help you develop a walk that was productive, fruitful for the kingdom and for the glory of God?
What if we developed relationships like that for every single person in our church. And what if we taught each other to do the same thing (to replicate ourselves in the life of someone else), and they taught others to do the same, and they taught others to do the same. And pretty soon you have hundreds of redemptive relationships filled with people spiritually mentoring other people and training them to do likewise. Do you think that we could reach generation after generation after generation for the gospel? Do think that if we had a church like that, that in a hundred years from now, should the Lord tarry, Faith Baptist Church would still be unto God glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations?
Dad’s what if you took this approach with your kids? What if you purposely intentionally took helped them grow with a well developed spiritual road map with the purpose of helping them walk worthy of God and living their lives for the Kingdom and for the glory of God? What if you taught your kids to do the same thing for their kids and they did the same thing for their kids and so on and so on. Do you think you could reach your sons and your grandsons and your great grandsons for the gospel? Do you think that it would be possible to leave behind that kind of legacy so that in 200 hundred years, should the Lord tarry, your family would still be walking worthy of God?
Folks this is not rocket science. This is not some new fade, or secret formula. This is what it really looks like to do the Great Commission. This is what it really means to make disciples!
Fathers and fellow believers of Faith Baptist Church, if we are to be successful disciple-makers, then we must cultivate genuine relationships as a father with his own children.
What needs to take place for that to happen? What would we need to do, practically, to put into place that kind of disciple-making into place in our homes and in our church?
I. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor to pattern their lives after (v. 10)
II. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor with the passionate heart of a father (v. 11)
III. Every believer needs a Christlike spiritual mentor with a well-developed spiritual road map (v. 12)
Look at the result of that kind of disciple making ministry
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.