Make Disciples

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

Jesus was a willing sacrifice...

Jesus had at his disposal thousands of angels to usher in an early kingdom.

Matthew 26:53 ESV

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

Jesus didn’t come to usher in an earthly kingdom. Jesus came to REDEEM a people for a heavenly kingdom where he is king.

Matthew 28:5–7 ESV

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

Matthew 28:8–10 ESV

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:11–15 ESV

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Boom. Book over.

Last thing written.

Jesus rose from the dead, validating everything he ever said, defeating death, and establishing his authority.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

All authority… has been given to me.

Jesus is exalted to the highest position of power and authority.

You can go into any room and ask, “who’s in charge here,” and the answer would be, “Jesus.”

When multiple voices contradict each other, we do well to listen to the voice with the highest authority.

Go therefore...

On the basis of that authority, Jesus commands his disciples to “go”

Go therefore...

This is not an intellectual exercise.

This is not an optional activity.

This is not a ministry for a select group of people with “the gift of evangelism”

We must go.

It is active.

Could have said “therefore make...” but he said “Go”

Up, come on, let’s get a move on.

Make disciples...

We read this passage every week.

We talk about making disciples all the time.

We might be in danger of losing the significance of a statement.

“God loves you, he loved you even while you were still sinners”

“God has a plan and purpose for your life”

What is a disciple?

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By definition, a disciple is a follower, one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another. A Christian disciple is a person who accepts and assists in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ. Christian discipleship is the process by which disciples grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and are equipped by the Holy Spirit, who resides in our hearts, to overcome the pressures and trials of this present life and become more and more Christlike. This process requires believers to respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to examine their thoughts, words and actions and compare them with the Word of God. This requires that we be in the Word daily—studying it, praying over it, and obeying it.

Got Questions

This isn’t a comprehensive list… But to be a disciple means:

To cease from work, and trust in Jesus

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“Jesus is our sabbath… Jesus is the end of working for God’s approval”

Putting Jesus first in all things

Mark 8:34–38 ESV

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Following Jesus’ teachings

John 8:31–32 ESV

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

“Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Which leads me into:

Obedience

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Disciples of Jesus do what he says.

They hear the voice of Jesus and listen to it.

There is a trend called “obedience based discipleship...”

Fruitfulness

John 15:5–8 ESV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Love for other disciples

John 13:34–35 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

This is actually a pretty radical claim that I don’t think the church at large is thriving in.

Evangelism - Making more disciples

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

Disciples make more disciples. Period.

In church leadership it’s getting popular to say, “we want to make disciples who make disciples”...

John 20:30–31 ESV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So what does it mean to make a disciple?

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In Ephesians 4:11-16 we are told that God gives pastors to the church to “equip the saints [Christians] for the work of the ministry,” (4:12), and then goes on to define that work of the ministry as “building up the body of Christ,” through “speaking the truth to one another in love,” (4:13, 15). If we fail to do this–if we don’t speak God’s truths to each other and labor to help one another grow–then we (and the others in our church) will become deceived by false teaching and make a shipwreck of our faith (4:14).

Pastor Marc Sims

Evangelism is really the entry point to discipleship.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

Baptizing - bring them into the church family, unite them to Christ

Teaching - teach them everything I said (OBSERVE)

We look at this passage all the time:

2 Corinthians 5:17–20 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

This is what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

The old has passed away, the new has come.

We are reconciled, now we are given the task of bringing reconciliation to others.

What are some things we do instead of make disciples? (What distracts us from disciple making?)

We learn about God and fail to know God.

We create social clubs that are not centered on Jesus, but some cause or commonality.

We make it our aim to get people into a building and call it success.

We keep our faith to ourselves under the guise that we are somehow caring for others. (e.g. we don’t want to be pushy).

We make disciples, but not of Jesus.

(1) Watching TV

(2) Sports and exercise

(3) Reading

(4) Computer Games

Currently there are more than half a billion people worldwide playing online games at least an hour a day — and 183 million in the US alone” writes Jane McGonigal, author of “Reality is Broken.”

(5) Social Networking

(6) Playing or listening to music

(7) Traveling

(8) Going to the movies

(9) Shopping

(10) Relaxing and thinking

Cooking, minimalism, Keto, Guns, politics, academics, you name it...

Who are you a disciple of?

Basically, how would people describe you? What would people say you’re really into?

Oh, John, he’s super into sports...

Oh, Bob, he’s the biggest Seahawks fan you’ll ever meet...

Oh, Bill, spend an hour with him and you’ll definitely be talking about Jesus at some point...

So what should I do?

(1) Be a member of a local church

(2) Join and submit to a huddle

(3) Rejoice when it gets difficult

(4) Study and observe Jesus’ teachings

“Do not worry about your life...”

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...”

“The greatest is servant of all...”

“Love your enemies...”

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(5) Angela it’s pretty simple. Look at what I’m doing and go tell somebody it.

Jesus might be in heaven saying, Adam it’s pretty simple. Look at what I’m doing and go tell somebody it.

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