Monday, October 26, 2009

October 27, 2009

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20
Jesus' Great Commission is a mandate for discipleship. Over the past few posts we have been examining what it means to be a disciple.
So far we have postulated that disciples are fully devoted to Jesus and have faith in Him. That faith is evidenced by their faithfulness. fully devoted disciples are also followers of Jesus. They follow Him fully, above all else that is sacred and important to them. And fully devoted disciples of Jesus are fearless because they live in His power and His presence. It does not mean that they are never afraid it means that they don't let fear nullify their faith. A fully devoted disciple is also focused on fulfilling the mandate Jesus gave them.
This morning we will notice one more thing about disciples. Fully devoted disciples are fruitful. That means they produce results and the results they produce are other disciples. A certain mark of discipleship is that disciples reproduce themselves in others.
How do they do that?
Through knowing Jesus. Discipleship is first of all a relationship. If you do not know Jesus personally in a faith relationship, you cannot be a disciple. There is no point to discipleship if their is not intimate personal knowledge of the Risen Savior. Knowing about Jesus isn't enough. Knowing Jesus' teaching won't suffice. Disciples know Jesus and know Him better every day. That is the fruit of discipleship.
By obeying Jesus. A disciple must be one of one voice and one choice. That voice he hears is that of Jesus and the choice he makes is the will of God. Salvation is an act of obedience. Baptism is a second act of obedience. Hearing and doing the will of God is a fruit of discipleship.
Going in the power of God with purpose of winning converts and making disciples is the fruit of discipleship. It takes a disciple to make a disciple. The ultimate test of whether you are one is when you can reproduce one. That demonstrates God's power and grace at work through you.
The fruit of discipleship is knowing God, growing in God, going for God and showing a faith reproduced in others.
Your fruit is showing! What does it show?

October 26, 2009

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20
If you have been following this blog you know that we have been doing an examination of discipeship based on these words of Jesus known as The Great Commission.
So far we have discovered that disciples are fully devoted to Jesus and have faith in Him. That faith is evidenced by their faithfulness. fully devoted disciples are also followers of Jesus. They follow Him fully, above all else that is sacred and important to them. And fully devoted disciples of Jesus are fearless because they live in His power and His presence. It does not mean that they are never afraid it means that they don't let fear nullify their faith.
What else do we need to learn about disciples of Jesus? Is there more that we can draw from these verses expressing the words of Jesus?
Yes, there is also clear evidence that fully devoted disciples not only are faithful and followers and fearless but they are focused. They know exactly what they have to do. They are crystal clear who they need to please. They have no doubt where they need to go. They understand why they live and what the purpose of their life is. They know what their destiny is and what their legacy needs to be.
We are having this conversation because these eleven guys became clear in their focus. While they had struggled a bit with their identity and their purpose before, you don't see that happening henceforth.
Focus is the difference between a flashlight and a laser. A flashlight will show you the way, a laser can start a fire.
Fully devoted followers, true disciples, are focused on accomplishing the Great Commission in their lifetime. That focus clarifies their purpose for living, their priorities, their principles, the partners they will choose, the pals they will hang out with, the path they need to follow and the productivity of their days and price they will need to pay.
Are those things clear to you? Is your life a spark, a candle, a flashlight or a laser?
What is the primary focus of your life? What are you living for? What are you willing to die for?
What will you be remembered for?
If you are not focused you are not fully devoted.

October 25, 2009

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20
What does it mean to be a disciple? Jesus gives a clear call to His disciples to make disciples. So, it seems to me that this is a top priority of Jesus and we'd best consider it important as well.
For the past several days we have been examining the claims of discipleship. Fully devoted disciples put their faith in Jesus as evidenced by their faithful living. And, fully devoted disciples are those who fully follow Jesus above their families, their fortunes and their futures.
Ready for another criterion of a fully devoted disciple of Christ?
Disciples who are fully devoted are fearless. Well, not totally fearless. They fear God. They fear disobeying Him and disappointing Him. But beyond that, in fact, because of it they are fearless. Because they fear God they don't fear man.
How does that happen? If I have fear does that mean I am not a disciple? No, it just means you are not yet fully devoted.
Devoted to what?
Devoted to Christ's promises. His promise of power - "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me".... - and His promise of presence - "And surely I am with you always even to the end of the age."
Let me ask you something. If you have the power of Jesus and the presence of Jesus, what is there to be afraid of?
If you do a study of the disciples you can notice that the longer they followed Him, the more boldness and the less fear they displayed. In the events leading to the passion of Christ and during those fateful hours, we see fearful followers. In the hours following the crucifixion of Jesus we see fearful followers. Understandably.
But following the resurrection and following the ascencion of Jesus, we see an increasing boldness evidenced in their actions and attitudes.
Could it have to do with His promises of power and presence? I think so! It works for me! History records it worked for them.
Fully devoted disciples are convinced of His power and are committed to receiving it and living in it. Have you received His power? The power resides in His Spirit. Do you have His Spirit? It is not "a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind".
Fully devoted disciples are convinced of His presence. In His presence they "live and move and have their being". His presence is found in the Word, through obedience, through surrender to His Spirit, and in prayer.
Let me ask you again, if you have His power and His presence what is there to fear? The disciples became fully devoted to His power and His presence and became fearless. Their boldness transformed the world.
When Paul wrote to the Roman, "If God be for us, who can be against us" how do you think he knew that?
Hey, disciple of Jesus, how is your fear factor? Are you living in His power? Are you living in His presence?

October 24, 2009

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20
I am examining what it means to be a disciple and what it takes to be one.
In my lost post I wrote that it takes faith to be a disciple - faith in Who Jesus is. The evidence of faith is faithfulness.
Today I want to touch on another aspect of discipleship. In addition to faith, discipleship requires following. These eleven men followed Jesus and they followed Him fully. What do I mean by that? Following Him fully means following Him only. It means throwing all the weight of your hopes for the future and all the weight of your trust in Him.
They stopped following their families and started following Him. Is it wrong to love your family? Of course not! God commands that! Is it wrong to be devoted to your family? No way! Your family is a sacred trust from God! But, disciples follow Christ and are more devoted to Him than to their marriage or to their family. That is following fully. When discipleship is done properly, you will become a spouse, parent, child, or grandparent because you are fully devoted to Christ. When you follow Christ you will lead your family.
They stopped pursuing their fortunes and started following Him. They left their boats on the shore and walked away from their nets, when they began following Christ. Everyone of the disciples left their jobs and cast their fortunes with Jesus. That is following fully.
Yes, but, Brad, they didn't have 401K's and profit-sharing and health insurance that they had to walk away from! No, and neither do you. You just need to trust Jesus more than you trust all those things. Fully devoted followers make Him their security and trust Him for their future.
They gave up their future dreams and personal agendas to follow Him. Everyone of these original disciples were busy carving out their futures when Jesus called them. These were not idle people. They were not deadbeats. They had things to do and schedules to keep and futures to build. But when Jesus called, they left it all. They followed fully.
I fear that today's version of discipleship has morphed into how we can shape Jesus around our future and our agenda rather than how we can fully follow Him. Fully following Him means that we shape our future and our fortunes around His agenda, His values, and His mandate.
A disciple is a fully devoted follower of Christ. Are you fully devoted to Him? Have you fully thrown all of your hopes and dreams and trust on Him?