25-0706a Transcript

Preacher: Jim Lokenbauer

(1:38) Well, good morning everybody. Today our study is (1:43) going to become, follow me, part one. Part two will be this evening. And it’s going to be a study of what is a disciple.

(1:52) Around the year 450 BC, the prophet Malachi penned the last of the Old Testament writings. And it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that the Old Testament ends by the foretelling of how the New Testament would begin. Malachi prophesied that one would come in the spirit of Elijah preparing the way for the long-awaited Messiah.

(2:22) Malachi writes in chapter 3 verse 1, behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the angel of the covenant whom you desire, behold he comes, says Yahweh of armies.

Then in chapter 4 verses 5 and 6 he writes, (2:49) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh (2:56) coming. (2:57) He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children (3:02) to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (3:08) So from Malachi’s writings, we see that someone was coming in the spirit of Elijah, which (3:16) Jesus revealed to us in Matthew chapter 11, 14, that that was John the Baptist. He came (3:26) in the spirit of Elijah.

And that’s why Malachi reveals that the person that Elijah was preparing (3:42) the way for was the angel of the covenant. And the angel of the covenant is one of the (3:51) many faces of Yahweh when he told Moses that he would always be with them in one of his (4:00) various forms. The angel of the covenant was the giver of the law on Mount Sinai.

He is (4:09) also the owner of the temple, if you noticed what Malachi was saying. Malachi said when (4:16) he comes to his temple, and so whoever was coming to his temple is none other than God. (4:25) Isaiah foretold of this same event and calls this person Yahweh and God.

So the Messiah, (4:36) the one who was coming to his people and to his temple, is none other than the great I (4:43) am, Yahweh. Isaiah 43 says the voice of one who calls out, prepare the way of Yahweh in (4:52) the wilderness. Make a level highway in the desert for our God.

He is talking about Messiah. (5:04) God was silent with his people for over 400 years since Malachi wrote that final book (5:12) of the Old Testament. So with the advent of Christ’s coming, the Messiah, he was preceded (5:21) with signs and wonders to get the people’s attention.

You remember all the things at (5:26) the time of Jesus' birth, all those wonderful signs in the air, signs when he was born, (5:35) the angels singing in the desert to the shepherds. Well that got their attention and the word (5:44) spread quickly. Then John faithfully prepared Israel for the Messiah and the Messiah came (5:57) to seek and save the lost, which he faithfully did.

For three years Jesus concentrated his (6:05) efforts in the Holy Land and with the nation of Israel. At the end of those three years (6:14) he completed the plan of salvation by dying on the cross and rising from the dead three (6:21) days later. But in order for the whole world to receive this blessing that the Messiah (6:28) gives, fulfilling the third promise that God made to Abraham, he needed people to carry (6:37) out his teachings and his mission to the whole world.

So he needed followers. While he was (6:46) proclaiming the good news to the people, he was also discipling a core group of men and (6:56) he was training them to carry his torch after he ascended back into heaven. So while he (7:03) was proclaiming to people, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he was also (7:08) saying to some of them, come, follow me.

So what is a disciple? I love Noah Webster’s (7:18) dictionary. If you don’t have one, you should really seek one out. I know John did.

Noah (7:27) Webster’s 1828 dictionary describes a disciple this way. Now this is from the dictionary (7:35) at the time. A follower and adherent to the doctrines of another, hence the constant (7:43) attendance of Christ were called his disciples and hence all Christians are called his disciples (7:52) as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts.

You won’t find that in today’s (8:01) collegiate dictionaries. So when we hear the gospel, the good news, that there is a holy (8:08) and living God who loved us so much that he sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to this (8:16) world who himself is God and creator, he became a human just like we are and he was tempted (8:27) in every way throughout his life just as we are, yet he was without sin and by being sinless (8:37) he could become the only acceptable human sacrifice that could actually take our sin (8:46) away. By dying on the cross at Calvary, this loving act removed the hostility between God (8:55) and sinful man, reconciling us back into a right relationship with him.

When we are touched (9:04) by this act of ultimate love and sacrifice, we accept Jesus as our personal savior. If (9:13) we have true faith, we show it by being obedient to his teachings that tell us what we must (9:21) do to be saved. That’s the first step of becoming a disciple of his.

And those teachings in (9:31) a nutshell are this, to love and worship God and to love our neighbors as ourselves and (9:38) to teach others about Christ and his kingdom. As we continue in his teaching, we take on (9:46) a new perspective to life. We develop a world view where everything we see and do is through (9:54) the lens of Christianity.

In the Bible, there’s several verses I want us to look at that shows (10:03) us the characteristics about what a disciple is. First I want us to see the example that (10:11) Jesus gave his disciples, that he is a teacher and a preacher. In Matthew 11, it says, when (10:19) Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach (10:25) and preach in their cities.

So Jesus was instructing those who were his followers, his disciples (10:33) and not just the twelve, but also there were over 72 others that were following him around. (10:42) And he instructed them and after spending time with them, he would go and preach the (10:48) good news to the lost and teach those people as well in all the cities he visited. He taught (10:55) them on a personal level, usually in small groups, occasionally to big huge crowds, and (11:03) he gave them the example of going out to the cities and preaching the gospel to the public (11:10) as well.

He prepared them for this work in the coming kingdom, his church, and to seek (11:18) and save the lost. In Matthew 28, what we know is the great commission after Jesus' (11:27) resurrection, he talked with his, at that time, eleven disciples and he gave them instructions. (11:37) Those verses read, and Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth (11:43) has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in (11:50) the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe (11:57) everything I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the very end of the (12:04) age. So after Jesus' resurrection, he wasted no time in gathering up his disciples and (12:13) he gave them their marching orders.

They were given full authority by the Godhead to make (12:20) disciples. And a disciple’s job is to make and maintain more disciples by teaching them (12:32) what the Savior taught them, and to baptize them for the remission of their sins. This (12:39) is a perpetual command for all generations until Christ himself comes back, until the (12:47) end of the age, the end of the Christian age.

Yeah, there’s an expiration date for this (12:54) period of time we’re living in. And that’s when Christ’s second coming happens. That’s (13:01) when he calls up his church to heaven.

And then we enter eternity, which will be anew. (13:08) Well, you can’t call it an age, you simply call it eternity. That’s where we’ll be with (13:13) God forever.

So we can start to get a picture of what a disciple is. We know that a disciple (13:25) is a baptized believer who’s taught the Word of God and will teach others how to be a disciple, (13:32) a follower of Jesus. And not everyone has the makeup to teach or preach on a large scale, (13:39) as some of the disciples of the first century did.

But we can exercise our Christian influence (13:46) on those around us, like family and friends, neighbors and workmates and acquaintances (13:53) wherever we happen to be or have dealings. I do want us to take a good look at Ephesians (14:00) 4, 11 through 16. Now, Paul mentions what the roles of a disciple are.

And he mentions (14:09) what a lot of gifted people had in the church. And a lot of these people with these particular (14:18) gifts, those gifts ended when miracles stopped, the miraculous. But let’s see what it says (14:28) here.

And you’re going to see that all of these roles are involved in building up the (14:36) people’s faith so that we can be mature. It says, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, (14:45) and evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, the job to equip the saints for works of ministry, (14:52) for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and of (14:59) the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature to the measure of the stature of the fullness (15:06) of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried (15:13) about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes. (15:19) Rather, speaking the truth, which is the word of God, in love, we are to grow up in every (15:26) way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is joined and held (15:33) together with every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, (15:40) makes the whole body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Wow, that’s a mouthful. (15:47) So we see that there were special categories of people like apostles and prophets who would (15:59) aid in the teaching of God’s people. We do not have them anymore.

After the apostles (16:05) died out, that was it for them. And then after the miraculous ability given by Holy Spirit (16:14) was replaced with the word of God, the completed word of God, the miracles dried up. So the (16:27) disciples were no longer people that everybody would be taught with.

They no longer needed (16:31) miracles to prove that what they were teaching was true. But we do have evangelists, elders, (16:45) shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints. And so part of the disciples' job is to fill (16:56) these roles and to teach the Word, speaking the truth in love.

That’s our motivating (17:03) factor. It’s got to be love. So the disciple is to know God’s Word, to know it, to become (17:14) a better Christian themselves, to mature and grow up in the Lord.

And we have Paul showing (17:24) us in 1 Timothy 4.16 where he was discipling a young man named Timothy. And Timothy was (17:35) himself to become a preacher. And Paul told him, watch your life and doctrine closely.

(17:43) Persevere in them because if you do, you will save both yourself and your heroes. So what (17:51) we teach, what we preach, the Word of God, our doctrine, we have to be careful about. (18:00) You know, watch carefully what you teach, because if you do, you will save yourself (18:07) and those who hear you.

So we can’t be preaching a partial gospel. People need to hear the (18:16) whole gospel, how to be saved. Otherwise we end up in the predicament we have today.

(18:26) A lot of believers in Christ only teach a partial gospel. So you have a lot of people (18:34) walking around not knowing that maybe there’s a need to be baptized, or pick anything else. (18:44) We have to be sure to give them the whole gospel when we teach, because lives depend (18:53) on it, spiritual lives.

In 2 Timothy 2.2, Paul continued telling him, and the things (19:07) you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses and trust to reliable men who will (19:15) also be qualified to teach others. So this is the discipling process. He’s telling Timothy, (19:25) make sure to pick people who know the gospel so that they can become teachers, continuing (19:34) this discipling process, making believers, making disciples, making Christians.

So we (19:44) see that Paul, who was a disciple himself, a disciple of Jesus, discipling Timothy, who (19:53) was told to disciple men who would be qualified to disciple others. So there’s this whole (20:00) big, you know, let’s make disciples going on. And it goes on to today.

I mean, this (20:08) is an everlasting command until Christ’s return. Also in Philemon 6, Paul expresses (20:17) to Philemon the importance of telling others. He says, I pray that you may be active in (20:24) sharing your faith with others so that you will have a full understanding of every good (20:31) thing we have in Christ.

So for those who are teaching, there’s a benefit in sharing (20:37) your faith with others, in sharing your faith with other disciples. Ask any teacher of the (20:46) Bible, and they’ll tell you, well, actually I learn more when I’m teaching the word because (20:56) my nose is always in it to share the word with others. So, you know, there’s a benefit (21:04) in sharing your faith.

It also solidifies what we believe, you know, when you can tell (21:13) others about it. As a disciple, we should be asking ourselves, am I actively sharing (21:25) my faith with others? My children, my spouse, friends, neighbors? Our next example is in (21:33) Luke chapter 14. Look at verses 25 through 27.

This is Christ speaking. Now great crowds (21:50) accompanied him and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate (21:58) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his (22:07) own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and follow me (22:17) cannot be my disciple.

Now these are harsh, stern words. Words so strong it might make (22:29) somebody blanch, you know, shrink away like, wow, I gotta hate my family? Well, that was (22:36) just an idiom that they used back in those days. You know, to hate somebody, you gotta (22:46) hate them more than your own life.

You gotta hate your mother more. He doesn’t want you (22:54) to hate them. That’s just a way of saying, love me more than the way you love them.

You (23:03) know, that would be very, it would contradict his teachings, which, especially the golden (23:11) rule, which is love thy neighbor as thyself. You know, God doesn’t want you to hate people. (23:17) That’s just the way they phrased things back then, to emphasize, hey, you gotta love me (23:24) more than all of these.

So in verse 27, it’s the key verse here, if anyone who does not (23:33) carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple, when we become a disciple, we have (23:46) to count the cost of becoming one. We must consider if we can be all in for the Lord, (23:56) and be all in for a long life of working in the Lord’s vineyard. It’s a great calling.

(24:07) There’s no bench-warming being a Christian, letting somebody else do all the work. We (24:18) always have to be busy somewhere in the Father’s vineyard. Man was created to work.

Our rest (24:30) is at the end of this life in heaven. That’s where we can put our feet up. Well, I don’t (24:36) know if we’ll actually do that, but you get the idea.

You don’t have to teach a class. (24:45) You don’t have to preach before a crowd. The people around you in your life, those are (24:56) the people you can tell Jesus about.

You know, start out small, just sharing the gospel with (25:05) someone. God just wants us to be planting those seeds. He gives the increase.

So you (25:13) get the idea. So what Jesus means here is we all have to die to ourselves when we carry (25:21) our cross. We must remove the me factor and do the Father’s will.

If we had to choose (25:29) between our family and Him, we must not hesitate to follow Him. Jesus must be first in His (25:39) disciples' hearts. If we make Him second, or just something we occasionally do, occasionally (25:48) visit church, we’re playing with fire.

We’re playing with our eternal destination of where (26:01) we’ll end up at the end of this life. Jesus tells the church in Revelation that He would (26:11) rather they be hot or cold for Him rather than lukewarm. He goes, if you’re lukewarm, (26:19) I’m going to spit you out of my mouth.

Nobody likes to drink lukewarm water. What He’s saying (26:28) is, be on fire for me, or you’re going to be on fire somewhere else if you’re not. So (26:39) at this time I’m going to stop here.

We’ll finish the rest of this evening, but I’ll (26:44) offer the invitation to anyone who needs it. If you’d like to be a disciple of Christ, (26:50) you have the opportunity to name Him as your personal Savior. If you want, come as we (26:58) stand and sing.