Teaching at Faith Baptist Church, Starkville, MS Dec, 2009 – April, 2010

Characteristics of Life

In Genesis 9:1, God said,

"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

Someone said this was the first order ever given to man, and the only one he has obeyed. Jesus' evangelistic mandate is essentially the same as God's biological mandate.

Why do men fail to multiply biologically?

1. Some never marry, or there is no union of the sexes; and, thus, multiplication does not occur.

2. Some suffer from disease or impairment to some vital reproductive part of the body.

3. Some don't multiply because of immaturity. You simply don't know any three-year-old fathers! The reproductive organs are present, but they are not sufficiently developed to allow reproduction. Babies don't reproduce.

Living = reproducing

The same deficiencies account for the failure to multiply spiritually.

- When there is no union between a Christian and Jesus Christ on a consistent basis, there will be little or no spiritual multiplication.

- The presence of sin in a believer's life will also impede the process of multiplication.

- And, the stalemating of a Christian in spiritual babyhood will prevent multiplication.

Spiritual multiplication is God's planned vision for reaching our present world and all future generations through those we win and train now.

The strategy of Jesus

Jesus’ Strategy for his ministry was evident:

He looked at the masses through the man; then

He built the man to impact the masses.

He ministered to everyone before Him but

He only recruited for His Kingdom's sake.

Jesus loved each individual, to be sure, but He always looked beyond His disciples to the men they would reach and train (see John 17:20).

Definitions

"Disciples are both the people who please the Lord and the people who will reach the world.

1 - Disciple

This word has been tragically reduced in the modern church, including everything from "convert" to "professing believer." Usually, "making disciples" is defined by "winning people to Christ." Soul-winning is a vital part, a beginning part, a necessary part, of disciple-making, but it is only a beginning. If the process stops with soul-winning, the sinner in question is not really "won" at all.

Levels of Discipleship

1 - The casual listener - All of those who came to hear Jesus at the beginning of His ministry are called "disciples."

2 - The convinced listener, a person who consents that what he is hearing is true, though it may not substantially change his life or his lifestyle.

The church today is full of people who meet these two descriptions. This comprises the vast congregation of "pew potatoes" who fill our churches Sunday after Sunday, but who have no power with God in changing the world, because they are not truly and deeply changed themselves.

3 - The third use of the word "disciple" in the New Testament defines a committed, lifelong, learner and follower. This last use is the one Jesus intended in the Great Commission, and it constitutes our marching orders. We are to go everywhere and "turn men into committed, lifelong, learners and followers of Jesus Christ."

This meaning is inherent in the word "disciple." A disciple is an adherent (one who adheres, like adhesive tape, to another), or an apprentice, of Jesus Christ. Weigh each definitive word carefully. Indeed, spend some time exploring the words. A disciple is a person in training.

2 - Discipler or Disciple Maker

A discipler, or disciple-maker, is a person who "turns men into disciples." A discipler is merely a maturing disciple, for one surely cannot be a committed disciple of Jesus and ignore the only marching orders Jesus gave to His church. In short, it would seem to be impossible to be a disciple without being a discipler.

"I can't do that!"

A discipler is a co-learner who recruits and leads others as they are learning together.

3 - Discipling

A third key word is the word "discipling." The command of Jesus to "make disciples" is loaded with implications based on Jesus' example and teaching.

Discipling is the process of building men into disciples. It is "seeking to fulfill the imperative of the Great Commission by making a conscientious effort to help people move toward spiritual maturity"

When we are discipling, we are:

- Drawing on the power and direction of the Holy Spirit,

- Utilizing the resources of the local church, and

- Fully employing the gifts, talents, and skills we have been blessed with and have acquired over the years."

Discipling is done by someone, not by something.

It is done by persons, not by programs.

It is accomplished by individuals, not by institutions.

Technically, discipling is one Christian person imparting his whole life to another, by example, leadership, and relationship. It always involves life transference.

An Example:

Suppose you have a person standing behind a line, holding a bucket of water in his hand. Twenty feet beyond the line, there are 20 small-mouth milk bottles. Preaching is like throwing the water out of the bucket from behind the line, hoping that some of the water enters the bottles. However, the efficiency of such a technique is fairly predictable: not much water will get into the bottles. Disciple-making, by comparison, is like taking the bucket of water to each milk bottle and pouring the water in close-up until the bottle is full. There is little question where the greater efficiency lies.

4 - Disciplines

A final key word is the word "disciplines." Disciplines are the areas of life that reveal the cost of discipleship.

Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Island Mission and one of the greatest visionary missionary-statesmen who has ever lived, wrote:

"A man may be consecrated, dedicated and devoted, but of little value if undisciplined."

Everyone Makes Disciples

If you have any influence at all in any area of your life, you make disciples at some level.

One only has to pick up the Wall Street Journal or one of the other business journals to see the press time given to successful business leaders such as real-estate tycoon Donald Trump, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and investment guru Warren Buffett. It is a fact that many in the business world have discipled themselves to the practices and philosophy of these business leaders and others like them. The hope of these disciples is to be successful in their business endeavors by mirroring all of their business actions to what they see their chosen guru doing. If getting ahead in business is the goal, this discipling of business and investment thought to a Warren Buffett or Donald Trump type of philosophy might be smart practice.

As another discipling example, many (especially younger) people faithfully follow every cosmetic, fashion, or social nuance their favorite actor, actress or singer exhibits. Their desire seems to be to look, smell, think and act, as much as possible, exactly the same as the celebrity they admire. In their mind, they have found the perfect role model in one of the people who work in the flashy world of entertainment.

Others are equally devoted to mimicking the philosophy and actions of social activists and political figures. There are many other equally good examples of subclasses of society who have acquired a following of committed disciples.

It is a fact that:

- Parents disciple their children.

- Children disciple their parents.

- We disciple our friends.

- We seek out discipling opportunities in business, social and personal relationships.

- What we disciple others to, depends on what priorities we have on our hearts.

- If you ever learn anything by intent or by incident or by accident from anyone else, that person has discipled you.

Since a disciple is “one who learns,” in some measure, all human beings are disciples of anyone who teaches them anything.

We seem to be happiest when we are discipling others to the things that make us happiest and give us the most gratification. For those who know Christ as their savior, the desire to disciple others to him is how God wired us.

The Genius of Jesus’ Strategy (1 Thessalonians 3: 7-9)

⁷for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; ⁸for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.  (1 Thessalonians 3: 7-8 NASV)

“For now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 3:8)

Major Emphasis

Remember that the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language, and one advantageous feature of the Greek language is that the placement and arrangement of the words in a sentence reveals whether any of the words carry emphasis, and, if so, whether the emphasis is minor (the Holy Spirit raises His Voice) or major (the Holy Spirit shouts).

In I Thessalonians 3:8, the words are so arranged that one word carries emphasis, and it is major emphasis (the Holy Spirit shouts this one word from the page to us).

There are 12 words - The emphasis is where?

To Finish

John 1:14

¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

"And the word became flesh and dwelled among us"

Word > Flesh > Word >Flesh > Word > Flesh > Word >>>>>>>>>>>You > ?

Jesus > Simon Peter > Barnabas > Paul > Priscilla Aquila > Apollos > Corinth

At this point, the question is: Will this progression stop with you?