1 Disciples of Christ 2-5-23
Matthew’s gospel leads us through several large teaching passages of Jesus. Matthew is organized into Jesus’s works and Jesus’s kingdom instructions. We all know that at the end of Matthew, it records the great commission of Christ. There, Jesus declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. And based on this authority, Jesus commissions His disciples to do what? Five things:
- Go… Mobilize! Jesus didn’t say, sit in church, Jesus said go! Or, as some have observed, as you go… either way, Jesus expects these disciples to mobilize. Mark’s gospel makes it clearer what Jesus means by this word. Jesus said in Mark 16:15 Go into all the world…
- Make disciples of all nations. Evangelize! Jesus didn’t say, pay for others to do make disciples, Jesus wants these disciples to replicate this faith in others. Make disciples requires one to be a disciple. It takes one to make one. Disciples are to be contagious. So, 1. Mobilize, 2. Evangelize. and
- Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mobilize, evangelize and baptize. Jesus didn’t say have them say a sinner’s prayer or receive Jesus into your heart, although those are both important. Jesus gives two major parts of evangelizing or making disciples. Baptizing them in the name, singular, of the three persons of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This implies that the one becoming a disciple knows who God is. He or she knows God as Father, they know God’s Son is Jesus Christ, and they know that God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. So, Mobilize, evangelize, baptize and number four.
- Stabilize. Jesus said, teaching them. Teaching this newly baptized follower to do what? To obey all that Jesus Christ commanded. Stabilizing them in following Jesus by doing what Jesus commanded. And lastly number five,
- Energize. Jesus said, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age! Jesus presence goes with us and works in us and through us and empowers us with strength while guiding us with His wisdom.
Mobilize, evangelize, baptize, stabilize, energize…
We come together here to worship and be instructed in God’s word, not just so we will know and understand more, but also so we will practice and perform our faith as Christ would have us. If Jesus told these first disciples to make disciples and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded… is this not a command of Jesus to them? If they teach others to obey all that He commanded them, and Jesus’s commands are passed down to each generation of new disciples, are we not to obey this command too?
So where do we start and what was the first command of Jesus?
2 Disciples of Christ 2-5-23
The first command of Jesus is very simple. Follow me. Can we say that? Follow me… Are you a disciple of Jesus? Then if someone followed you, would they not become a disciple too?
So, the first thing I need to do is be a disciple of Jesus, myself. As a disciple, following Jesus, I live under the authority of Jesus and in the company of Jesus. How much authority does Jesus have?
How much authority did Jesus claim? All authority. Where does Jesus wield all authority? In heaven and on earth. What does Jesus do with all authority in heaven and on earth? He reigns. Jesus Christ reigns over… who? You. Me.
Everyone, everything, everywhere! What is Jesus Christ doing as King of kings and Lord of lords now? He is sifting out the hearts of men for one thing. As we go and make disciples we do it by calling others to come follow Jesus with us. Through His body on earth, the church, Jesus Christ is inviting the lost to be saved. Jesus is calling all to come to Him. Jesus Christ is building and leading His church. Here on earth, through His word and through the Holy Spirit, Jesus reigns. And Jesus is with those who follow Him as disciples.
Between our birth and burial, one thing is of paramount importance, Do we, in obedient faith, surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and become one of His disciples. Do we become a disciple of Jesus Christ? Jesus calls us to come, follow me. And through us, Jesus calls others to come follow Him.
The Spirit and the bride say… and let everyone who hears say… COME! Everyone, that is, who believes and follows Jesus Christ as crucified, risen, reigning, and some day returning, Lord.
Come!!!
This is both a gracious call and a judgment call. This call distinguishes those who willing from those who are not. All will be judged by their response to Jesus Christ. Every single soul will face the judgment seat of Christ. Let’s look at some scripture… 2 Cor. 5:1-11, 17-21.
We who hear and believe are to follow and call others to come! So what is at stake here? What will following Jesus and His disciples ultimately bring?
Let’s look at a few more scriptures:
Jesus said in John 5:19-30
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians 1 Thes. 4:13-18, and 2 Thes. 1:3-12. There are those who will follow Jesus and those who won’t.
3 Disciples of Christ 2-5-23
1 Cor. 15:1-6 (read) now when Paul wrote this, you could go to many people who were alive and saw Jesus raised from the dead. Today, we who believe, take these words of scripture to heart in faith that they are true. In this chapter Paul defends the truth of the resurrection. But listen to how he ends his defense: 1 Cor. 15: 35-58. (read)
At the end of his life Paul wrote: I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award me, and not me only, but to all who have longed for His appearing.
Do you believe this? How do you know it is true? Can you defend your faith with evidence? Jesus promised to be with us always. How is Christ working in your life today? How is Christ working as Lord of your life? That’s a very solid defense that your faith is true! To God, and to you, and to others who see it.
Disciples of Christ, make disciples of Christ from those who are willing to follow Christ. But, sometimes there are not a lot who are listening to us call them to come. So…
Let’s ask another question:
Why is it that most people don’t believe and follow Jesus Christ as Lord? How do they know it is NOT true? Are they fully convinced or just hoping? How do they defend their unbelief?
We shouldn’t be surprised that many will not become disciples of Christ. Unbelievers challenge believers asking, if Jesus is reigning, and God is all powerful, why does He not stop all the terrible and horrific tragedies? Why do wars and sickness and diseases and evils still occur? How can there be a God, or Jesus be His Son, and all these things occur.
What’s the answer? My answer is: The Bible said that they would. We live in a world where good and evil exist together. Jesus said that the Wheat and weeks would grow up together, even in the kingdom of Christ. Matt. 13:37-43. There will be a judgment, and there are judgments of God today, but the ultimate final judgment will come when Jesus returns. I may not understand everything about that, but I believe in Jesus. When unbelievers ask why Jesus doesn’t do something, I would say: He has done something and He will do something! The greater question is: are you ready for Jesus to do that something.
Unbelievers point the finger at hypocrites and at people who claim to be Christians but whose lives don’t show any signs of it.
4 Disciples of Christ 2-5-23
It’s true! Some will say they follow Jesus, at least in the company of believers, but their words or works say otherwise. Everyone either surrenders to Jesus’s authority or they don’t. Now, there are weak followers, and God knows those who are His. We are not to be the judges of another man’s servant. But everyone is called to grow in faith and to surrender themselves to the authority of Christ! As disciples of Christ we must help the weak, not excuse their weaknesses. We must exhort and encourage full faithfulness, not compromise with sinfulness. We must build one another up in Christ, not ignore the failings of the weak.
The truth is, everyone, ultimately, is either in Christ or not. This, this is the great divide of humanity. Don’t try to live in both worlds! Choose you this day whom your will serve! As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! Can you confidently say this?
Jesus Christ reigns as Lord!
Remember what Jesus told us to expect:
Jesus told us how He would reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, did He not? Jesus told us that there is a narrow gate and difficult path that leads to life and only a few find it, and Jesus told us there is a broad gate and a wide path that leads to destruction and many go that way, did He not?
Jesus told us that there would be wars and rumors of wars. There will be false Christs, and false prophets. There will be tribulations, trials and dangers. Jesus told us that some would be killed because they are His disciples. Jesus said: do not fear those who can kill the body but do nothing to the soul, but fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell, yes, I tell you, fear Him!
As disciples of Christ, let us keep our eyes on Him. Consider how Jesus lived and what He experienced.
What did Jesus Himself go through in His time on earth with us as one of us? Christ came to seek and save the lost. He also came to suffer and die for us. Jesus experienced temptation, danger, rejection, false accusation, brutality beyond our imagination, and the shameful death on the cross…
How could a good God let that happen? This is how God demonstrated His love for us! Not by how fun and easy He could make life for us, but by how much He would suffer for us as an example to us of how we also can prove our love for Him. This begs the question: What makes Jesus worth following?
5 Disciples of Christ 2-5-23
Joseph gave me his permission to share something he said before he asked to be baptized. Joseph was raised in a Catholic church and had a child like faith up until his confirmation and first communion at 13 years old. He was looking forward to participating in the Lord’s supper anticipating taking the bread and drinking the cup. When he took it, he said, his faith was abruptly dashed. Why? Nothing happened. No emotional or physical experience at all. He was crushed. He said, “They told me Santa Clause was real, and the Easter bunny was real and that Jesus was real… but none of them are real!” His fondness of science and the influence of the teaching of evolution took front seat in what he believed about truth and reality. He said, “These seemed to be based on facts instead of fairy tales. I’ll give you a short version of what he shared more extensively. This godless journey led him into despair. Life turned very dark as he chased down the wrong path. Then, someone talked him into seeing Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ. Joseph shared how this stirred up the flames of his childhood knowledge of Jesus. Joseph said, “Seeing this man, who was innocent, willingly giving himself as a sacrifice for those who are guilty, and enduring all that horror made me believe this: even if Jesus isn’t God, anyone who would do that, who would give himself up for God that way, for others… that man is worthy of my following Him.
I said, Joseph, if you follow Jesus, He will lead you to God! What happened next was astounding to me. Joseph then said, I just wish instead of being baptized as a baby it would happen after you know what you are doing! I wish I could be baptized now that I do.
It was a bit like the Ethiopian’s question in Acts 8… What hinders me from being baptized?
I said, “So, do you want to be baptized?” Joseph said, “Yes. I do!” I said, Joseph, you can! Let’s look at what Jesus said. So, Bibles opened, we looked at Jesus words and some examples in Acts. He said he was ready to give His life to Christ and be baptized for the remission of his sins.
We are now working together on the second part of what Jesus said: teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. The job’s not over at baptism, it’s just begun!
If anyone here today wishes to follow Christ, what are you waiting for? Come!