Make Disciples

Thank you, Eddie, for leading our songs this morning, and we’re very grateful to each of you for being here today. And this morning, we’re going to be looking at making disciples. You know, Matthew chapter 28 and verses 18 through 20 tell us what Jesus said to the apostles and the other disciples Before He ascended up into heaven. And it gives us a picture, a mission, if you will, of what Christ wants the church to do.

For three years, the apostles followed Jesus and He taught them and made them His disciples. And then they saw Jesus crucified and buried and then resurrected. What did He want from them? It must have been an impressive thing to see Jesus come back from the dead and then stand before them with those holes in His hand and His side having been pierced, First, showing them that body which hung on the cross, which they saw die, what does He want from us? And so Jesus wanted them to make disciples.

Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

Again, when we look at Jesus’ statement here, we’re going to see three things. First of all, that there is a command in this Great Commission. Secondly, that there is an expectation. Third, there is a purpose. And that’s what I would like for us to think about this morning as we think about Jesus’ command. Make disciples. Make disciples.

And this is done because Jesus made this statement and made this promise in Matthew 16 and verse 18. On this rock, I will build my church. That’s what His purpose was. That’s what His mission was. Now He laid the foundation. No other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4, and now he wants his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. For the disciples to make disciples, that’s what the command is. So let’s look at these three things as we think about make disciples this morning. First of all, there is a command in making disciples. This is a specific word in the Greek language that means to make disciples.

It is an imperative verb. Mathechusate is the Greek word. It’s from the root mathechuo, and it means to make disciples. Some translations say, teach all nations. That’s not technically correct. It’s not the Greek verb didasko, which is the verb for teach. It’s the verb to make disciples. And this is very important. It is in the second person plural, which means all of you make disciples. And it is the only imperative verb in the Great Commission.

We think, for example, about making disciples. The ancient Greek concept was that you would take a person who would follow around the teacher or the master and learn from that teacher, learn from that master over a course of some time.

For Jesus and His disciples, it was three years. It could be more, it could be less, but the ancient concept was that you associated yourself with your teacher, you followed your teacher, you imitated your teacher. Jesus made some statements about making disciples in Matthew chapter 10 and verses 24 and 25, making it clear what it meant.

He said, A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. And so that was the goal of making disciples, for the disciples to become like their teacher or like their master. Luke 6 and verse 40, a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained or completely trained will be like his teacher.

Now, this is what it means to be a disciple, to be like your teacher or like your master. And this is an important point that Jesus makes here when it comes to the definition of what a disciple is. He defines it for us.

So we know that a disciple is one who is like his teacher. Now in this context, Matthew 28, 18 through 20, there is the word go. Go, therefore, but go is not an imperative verb here. The idea is this. As you go, make disciples. So there’s only one command in the Great Commission, and that command is make disciples. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. Make disciples.

Now, let’s think about the expectation of making disciples because it’s important that we understand what Jesus is commanding. How do we appropriate this command? How do we incorporate it into our own lives as individuals, as families, for our community?

We’ve got to meet the expectations that Jesus desires. Who do we make disciples for? You know, this is an important point to think about in relationship to the religious world today. So many out there are saying, oh, we need to make disciples, but who are they making the disciples for? I am not to make disciples of Kevin.

That’s not what the command means here. Jesus didn’t want me going out and making disciples of me or of you. We do not make disciples of a particular family group, let’s say, even though we may love our family and we cherish and appreciate our family greatly. To make disciples is not to make When we make disciples, it’s not to be disciples of a particular congregation, even. And as much as I love the church here, and as much as you love the church here, we’re not making disciples of this church.

And there’s some out there in the world who try to do that, I suppose, just copy individual churches over and over again, making disciples of that church. But that’s not what the command is. We are not to make disciples of any so-called religious body. And there are many religious bodies out there in the world today. Jesus didn’t want us to make disciples so that one would just become a disciple of a particular religious body. But who are we to make disciples of?

Look at Acts 14, 21 through 22. It says, “…and when they had preached the gospel…” We know what the gospel is, right? 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 3. The gospel is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “…when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples…” We make disciples for who?

For Jesus Christ and for Christ alone, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, continuing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to, notice, continue in the faith. So to make disciples here, they preached the gospel. They exhorted them to continue in the faith and saying, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.

Making disciples means making disciples of Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel to them, having them continue in the faith, and entering the kingdom of God. That’s what making disciples is about in a nutshell here. Now, consider what Jesus said about being His disciple very particularly. When we turn to Luke 14, in verse 26, we read, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Look at Luke 14, 27, and whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14, 33. And so what does it take to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Everything. Christ wants all of us above all else. That’s what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Look at what He says in Luke 18, 29 through 30.

And in Philippians 3, 7-8, the Apostle Paul reflected on what it meant to be a disciple of Christ when he said, But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ.”

And so Christ has some expectations for who can be His disciple. Not everyone will be a disciple of Christ because not everyone is willing to make the commitment to be a disciple of Christ. To be a disciple of Christ means that we must forsake all others and put Christ first at the very top within our lives. Make disciples. The command is to make others like Jesus Christ, and the expectation is to give up everything to follow Jesus Christ.

But then finally, let’s look at a purpose in this commandment. When we think about making disciples, we’re talking about making other people to be Christians. And the word Christian means, little Christ. It’s a diminutive. Maybe you’re familiar with English language and the diminutive form. Sometimes we say things like, give me a little bit of sweet tea, or give me a little bit of honey, or give me a little bit of your French fries.

The word little bit is how we put a diminutive on and in our language. Well, in the Greek language, they added the I-A-N on the end of the word. And so if you had a little Christ is a Christ-ian, the I-A-N. Sometimes we add the word et-e-t-t-e on the end of the word as a diminutive. And so to be a disciple of Christ, we’ve got to be little Christs. Think about Acts 11 and verse 26.

And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. We want to make this perfectly clear. A Christian is a disciple, and a disciple is a Christian. There are some religious bodies today Who teach that you can become a Christian without becoming a disciple. The Bible does not teach that. The Bible does not teach that. To be a Christian is to be a disciple. And we must embrace this purpose.

Now, how? How does one become a disciple? How does one become a Christian? Well, Jesus explains that in Matthew 28, 18 through 20. He says, first of all, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

And secondly, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And so there’s a two-fold process to becoming a disciple. First of all, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This is a commitment that we make when we become disciples of Christ, when we become Christians, and so we are baptized into Christ, into His death, His burial, and His resurrection to show and to demonstrate that we identify with Him, that we are now His disciple, His follower, A little Christ, a Christian, we don’t want cheap conversions. Disciples are not to be cheap converts. A disciple is not one who says, Oh sure, I believe in Jesus. I said the sinner’s prayer. Now I’m going to do whatever I want with my life. Wrong. A disciple is in 100%. A disciple is completely committed. A disciple who is a Christian is one who gives everything.

There is no sinner’s prayer in the Bible. But there is Christ’s command to make disciples by baptizing and by teaching. And that’s what we must preach and teach. Paul said, “…I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul was a disciple. Paul was a Christian. How did he become crucified with Christ?

We understand the message of the Gospel, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. And when we’re baptized into Christ, we participate and we obey the Gospel. By dying to our sins, crucifying them with Christ, being buried in baptism with Him, and being raised to walk in a new life.

I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That’s what making disciples is all about, crucifying ourselves with Christ, becoming dead to our sins, but becoming alive in the Spirit with Christ through baptism.

Now, all of this is done that we might identify with Christ and bear the image of Christ, be little Christs. Romans 8, verse 29 says, “…for whom He foreknew, He also predestined,” notice, “…to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Conformed to the image. Notice Colossians 3, verse 10, “…and have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge, according to the image.”

The image of Him who created Him. We know what an image is. It’s a likeness. It’s a similitude. Maybe you’ve baked cookies at one time or another and you’ve taken a little cookie cutter and you’ve put it into the cookie dough and stamped out an image. And all of those images are the same.

They are like something. God wants us to be like that, but with Christ, to be in His image. And so we make a commitment to be a disciple, to conform to the image of His Son, and to be like Jesus Christ.

We admire everything about Christ. Christ is probably the most admired person in the world. Do we admire Him enough to conform to His image? The result of making disciples is nothing less than the transformation of humanity. That’s what Jesus wants to accomplish.

To transform all of humanity into little Christs. What do we want humanity to look like? If you were to take your life and use it as a model for humanity, what would the result be? Would you want everyone to live the way you do? If not, what needs to change? And the answer is this, to become more and more like Jesus Christ. Make disciples. It’s a command. Jesus wants us, after He demonstrated Himself that He was the Son of God, and the disciples were eagerly waiting for Him to tell them what to do, His command was, make disciples. He expects us to be like Him, and He expects us to go out, baptizing in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching His disciples to observe all things whatsoever He has commanded. And that’s how we make disciples.

It’s not a little bit of this or a little bit of that. It’s an all-or-nothing proposition. Jesus doesn’t want just a little bit of us. He wants every bit of us, and we need to give it to Him so that we can be who God made us to be.

Do you need to become a disciple of Jesus today? If so, we stand ready to receive you, while together we stand, and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!