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One of the most spiritually healthy things we have done in a church since I took over as the head pastor is to begin to cultivate a disciple-making culture in our church.
That process began about 2 1/2 years ago.
We have come a long way, praise the Lord, but we still have a long way to grow- don’t we?
If you are seasoned veteran at Faith then you know exactly what I mean when I talking about a culture of disciple-making in our church.
But, if you are somewhat new to Faith you may have an idea of what we are talking about, but I would love the privilege of sharing with you exactly what we mean.
For those of you that don’t know we spent over a year teaching through what a disciple-making culture looks like in the local church.
I preached through I Thessalonians- which I believe is the NT model for what disciple-making in a church should look like.
And we went through Foundations in Sunday School to equip people to become a disciple-er.
So if you missed all that I want to take a few sermons and share the burden our our church disciple-making.
And what better place to start than by asking the question What is a disciple?
I believe the NT calls every believer to be a disciple-maker.
It is an imperative for every Christian.
So if Christ commands it of us, we ought to seek to make at least one disciple in our lifetime.
But how can we do that if we don’t have a clear understanding of what a disciple really is?
The idea of making a disciple is at the center of everything we do at Faith- it’s right in our mission statement:
Faith Baptist Church exists to equip and inspire believers for Christlikeness unto the abundance of the glory of God.
Faith Baptist Church exists to equip and inspire people to know and become like Jesus for the glory of God.
This is our clothes line- illustration- everything we do at Faith has to clip to that clothes line.
The best way to accomplish our mission’s statement is through disciple-making.
Our Lord’s last words are our first priority.
Notice the verbs in this verse- how many verbal ideas do you see?
Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
19 GO therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Which verb is the main verbal idea of the verse?
One of these verbs is an imperative- it is the primary verb, the rest of the verbal ideas are subordinate.
In other words they describe for us how to carry out the main idea.
So that is the main idea?
Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
19 Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Make disciples- it is a command / an imperative.
It was the the last command that Jesus gave us before he departed into heaven to sit at the right hand of the father.
It was his last words if you will.
If you had to write down your last words, the last thing you could say before you departed this life, how significant would those words be?
Our Lord’s last words are our first priority!
This is the works of first priority, or first works that Jesus commands of the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2.
If this command is so important, if this command constitutes the marching orders for the church, if this is our clothes line here at Faith, then we better make sure we understand exactly what Jesus is commanding us to do.
So we ask the question- what is a disciple?
If your are going to obey Jesus’ last words to you, shouldn’t you be clear on exactly what he ment?
μαθητής- this is the verb form of the Greek word- μαθητής.
This word is used 25x’s in its verb form in the NT.
In the noun form this word occurs over 260 x’s primarily in the gospels and in Acts.
(frequency highlights primacy!)
The Old Testament Reality
There is no LXX/Septuagint equivalent for “make disciples” in Matthew 28:19-20.
But, there is an equivalent for the root of the imperative “make disciples.”
In the LXX μανθάνω occurs c. 55× (incl.
10× in Isaiah and 7× in Deuteronomy), usually for Heb.
לָמַד H4340, which has a sim.
semantic range
Other than this verb (lmd or “lamad”) which gives us a description of the nature of learning in the OT and NT, what other relationships in the OT mirrored a quasi-discipleship relationship?
The Greek Mindset (500-300 BC)
Historically known as the Hellenic Period (Philosophers)
Learners
Learned from a master or teacher
Committed
Imitators
Devotion (almost religious in Greek culture)
Fellowship (continued after the teacher died)
The Period Between the Testaments
The Post Exilic Background to Christ’s Ministry
The Jewish mind was tremendously influenced by Greek culture and thought.
The followers of the Talmud (Jewish written tradition) were named the “Talmeed.”
After the tradition of the Greeks with the Philosophers and their disciples, the teachers of the Talmud had their disciples called the Talmeed.
This is the beginning of the Rabbi position in Jewish history.
The teachers of law and the Talmud were the Rabbis.
This also is the origin of the existence of Jewish schools of thought (such as Hillel, Shami, etc.).
The Talmeed Described
Learners and listeners.
Had to have a teacher.
Passing along the teachings of the rabbis to carry on the oral traditions.
They were imitators.
Could not be a Talmeed without fellowship.
They were expected to serve.
There was a deep commitment.
The New Testament Reality of Disciple Making
Forms of the root “disciple” are found some 260+ times in the NT.
The first time we see it is in reference to John the Baptist’s disciples.
Pharisees had disciples
Saul/Paul had disciples
First woman called a disciple
Jesus was always clarifying what made up a true follower
1. Listening (expert listening)
2. Learning (an absolute learner)
3. Obeying (sanctified in truth)
4. Mimicking (“Follow me”)
Jesus didn’t just me walk in the same direction that I am going (follow me), what did he mean?
Become like me (follow me), imitate me, mimic me!
5. Fellowship (be with me)
6. Committed (“hand to the plow”)
7. Serving (selfless and sacrificial)
8. Suffering (blessed yet persecuted)
9. Rewarded (beyond comprehension)
The reward is being eternally with Jesus!
Now that we have all of the information about what it really means to be a disciple- let me ask all of us- have you ever made a disciple of Jesus?
How long would that process really take?
What we tend to think like in our churches!
How many of you were discipled after you came to Christ?
For how long?
What does the Bible call new believers in Jesus?
Spiritual babies!
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