MAKING DISCIPLES
Chapter 1
Laying the Foundations
The Lord Jesus gave us a clear command in Matthew 28:19 - to make disciples of all nations. How can we make disciples who abide in Jesus' word in preference to "converts" who fall away within a few weeks of their decision to follow Christ?
We need to understand that discipleship is a process, likened in the Bible to erecting a building or growing a plant; for instance Jesus' parables of the house on the rock and the sower (Matt. 7:24ff, Matt.13). The important thing to note is that in both cases it is what lies at the source that is vital to the final product - a house must have good foundations, a plant must have good roots. It is the same for disciples; they must be rooted, grounded, and built up in the truths of the gospel (Col. 1:23; 2:7).
What is the first foundation? Look at the example of the disciples in Colosse, from Colossians1:5,6:
You heard... the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you... and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.
They had HEARD the truths of the gospel faithfully preached by Epaphras, they also KNEW the truth. The original Greek here shows that their knowing was more than an intellectual understanding, they actually had a full perception and a deep experience of the gospel truths, they were convicted, cut to the heart by what they heard. In particular they had heard about God's grace, and in order to know God's grace there must also have been a conviction of the truths of sin and judgement. Epaphras had not preached an easy gospel, he had taught the cross of Christ against the background of God's wrath towards sin and the subsequent plight of the sinner.
Paul knew Epaphras as a faithful minister of Christ (v.7) one who would not preach "with the wisdom of words" (1Cor.1:17) but in "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1Cor. 2:4). As a result of his preaching the first foundation had been firmly laid, these new believers heard and knew the truths of the gospel, their roots were secure, there would be fruit to show.
Colossians 1:3-8 shows Paul's assurance that these new converts have made a good start on the road of discipleship, he gives thanks to God for them because of what he has heard about the spirituality of their lives and he sees the reality of their conversion exhibited in 3 specific areas; 1) Faith in Christ Jesus; 2) Love for all the saints; and 3) Hope laid up in heaven (v.3-5).
From v.9 Paul will go on to speak about much weightier issues concerning the doctrines of salvation and it is worthwhile to notice that Paul does not enter into deep waters until he is assured that the right foundations have been laid. So many believers today are in a "theological muddle" because of our failure to nurture them according to Biblical principles; we thrust them into various ministries and ask them to grapple with deep matters of faith before we are assured of their grasp of the basic truths of the gospel and before we have seen the evidence of it in the quality of their conduct. Isaiah reminds us of God's ordained process for spiritual growth:
Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will he make understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept. Line upon line, line upon line. Here a little, there a little (28:9,10).
Those believers whose lives are not built in this step by step manner have no real doctrinal foundation for their beliefs and will be recognised as those who, like children, are "tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine" (Eph.4:14). The context of this verse in Ephesians makes it clear that it is the responsibility of those in ministry to equip the saints with sound doctrine, and this must be according to Biblical principles.
This series of studies is offered with the prayer that it will help us to better understand just what a life of discipleship entails and so live as better disciples, that our example may encourage others to take up their crosses, forsake all and follow Jesus too.
Chapter 2
Fruitful Disciples
We have seen how the primary foundation of true discipleship is laid by good and faithful preaching and the subsequent conviction of the gospel truths in the believer's heart. From such a beginning the new convert can be expected to grow and to manifest the fruits of his new life. St. Paul knew that a true convert would show the reality of his experience by the life he or she lived.
The 3 fruits of faith, love and hope as found in Col.1:3-5 will supply us with the next foundational stones upon which discipleship is built:
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel
Faith in Christ Jesus
What does it mean to have faith in Christ Jesus? Very simply put I would suggest that it is life lived in absolute and total dependance on Jesus, trusting Him to supply every need and to resolve every situation. It is to live the kind of life that Paul exemplifies in Galations 2:20:
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.
This is surely the supreme expression of faith in Christ, it is the complete surrender of self to the life of Jesus, it is the response Jesus expected from his disciples when He told them "I am the vine, you are the branches" and "without me you can do nothing" (Jn.15:5). This is at the essence of what it means to say "Jesus is Lord ".
How important it is for the disciple at the outset of his new life to have this attitude of complete surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. How important to understand that nothing of true value will be accomplished by human talent or endeavour. The disciple of Jesus must be able to lay aside his own desires, ambitions and sense of self importance in order to allow Jesus to be his all in all. Without this initial act of surrender there will always be struggle, for the flesh will always be asserting itself against the Spirit and what I can accomplish will be seen as more valuable than what Jesus can accomplish through me.
Without this surrender of self there will be no real exercise of faith, no room for God to work his miracles in our lives, no real testimony to the world of the complete sufficiency of Christ. When Ezra was ready to lead a group of Israelites back to Jerusalem from Babylon (a journey accompanied with very real danger of attack) he was "ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers", why? - because he had told the king of his faith and trust in God for protection (Ezra 8:22). Ezra refused to rely on his own resources or those of the world, instead he prayed and fasted, God answered his prayers and God was glorified. Is this the kind of faith nurtured in our churches today? Do we encourage new believers to depend on the Lord in every circumstance? Or, when confronted by their zeal and confidence do we dampen their faith with our "ifs" and "buts"? Does the testimony of our lives encourage others to live a life of faith? Or when faced with difficult circumstances are we seen to be accepting or even seeking the world's solutions?
A true disciple abides in Jesus' word (Jn.8:31), he knows that he can build his life upon every promise of scripture and he is not afraid to obey every command of scripture, his life is no longer his own, but a testimony to the supernatural power and reality of the life which Jesus lives through him.
The foundation of faith in Christ Jesus brings the disciple a deep sense of peace and security, by faith he is content to lean on the everlasting arms, leaving the outcome of all circumstances in the Master's hands. His freedom from all worldly concerns means he is able to devote his life in full surrender, service and witness to the Lord whom he loves above all else. His willingness to die to his old life and to live in total surrender to Jesus makes for a humble and contrite spirit. Here is a vessel fit for the Master's use, one who is fully yielded to His will, able to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
Chapter 3
We have been looking at the foundational qualities of a life of discipleship from Colossians 1:3-5 and suggested 3 essential qualities; faith in Christ Jesus; love for all the saints and hope laid up in heaven. It is my belief that we cannot expect a believer to make any significant headway in discipleship unless he or she is firmly rooted in these 3 matters and exhibiting the fruit of them in their daily lives. In the last chapter we saw that to have faith in Christ is to commit ourselves to a life of complete surrender to the Lordship of Jesus and to live in such a way as to give testimony to our absolute faith in Him in every circumstance. Let's move on to another foundation of discipleship.
Love for all the saints (Col.1:3)
Love amongst the believing brothers and sisters is something that Jesus linked very closely with discipleship. In John 13:34,35 he states:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
The love shared in our fellowship is seen by Jesus to be the defining element in our witness to the world that we are truly His followers. This is no ordinary love, not simply the companionship of those who share beliefs and ideals. It is to be the same love that Jesus showed for us. It is sacrificial love, the love that puts the needs of my brethren before my own needs, it is the love that bears each others burdens, it is the love that forgives as Jesus forgives, it is love that is kind, humble and gentle, in honour giving preference to one another (see Rom.12:9-21; 1Cor.13; Col.3:12-14; Eph.4:31,32), note too that Paul says it is love for ALL the saints, not a few of my own choosing.
This love for our fellow brethren is seen as such an intrinsic aspect of our spiritual life that John can say that those who fail to show it are not abiding in light but walking in darkness (1Jn.2:9-11). How sad then when we hear of conflict, injustice, cheating, lying, backbiting and oneupmanship amongst the brethren.
Scripture teaches us that we have serious reason to doubt the reality of conversion where there is such behaviour, at the least we must conclude that there is either ignorance or grave misunderstanding of God's divine purpose in creating the body of Christ and in forming the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, along with a selfish disregard for all the scriptural exhortations concerning the conduct of relationships amongst believers.
A disciple then must love the brethren in much the same way as he is loved by the Lord. A disciple must also enjoy and appreciate the loving fellowship of his brethren, realising that he or she is a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of the household of God (Eph.2:19), he has joined a new family of which Christ is the head. The disciple should exhibit a love for the fellowship of believers, preferring the relationships within the household of God far above anything the world can offer, including his natural family. Yes, discipleship makes extreme demands, but Jesus does not want half-hearted followers and he is well aware of those things which can be so precious to us yet have the power to hinder full commitment to Him, this perhaps is why he said,
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, and whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple (Lk.14:26,27).
Paul could give thanks concerning the saints in Colosse because he had heard of their love for all the saints, it was evidence to him that they were showing the fruit of true conversion and were ready to walk the path of discipleship. It showed that they were obeying the commands of Jesus. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, can the same be said of our churches and fellowships? Does the world look at us and seeing our obvious love for each other say "surely they are disciples of Jesus"? Do I myself have a deep appreciation and love for the fellowship of the saints? If I cannot answer yes to these questions then I need to look at the foundations of my own spiritual life and ask the Lord to put his love in my heart for those he gave his life to redeem; and I need to understand that there is no real evidence that I am a disciple until I know and show pure and deep love for my brothers and sisters, who are also members of the household of God.
Chapter 4
Hope laid up in heaven (Col.1:5)
Anyone who sets out to follow Jesus on the road of discipleship cannot expect an easy path through life. Jesus made this clear in several of his sayings:
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you (Jn.15:18)
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household (Mt.10:25)
I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household (Mt.10:35,36)
He who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me (Mt.10:38)
Such scriptures present the disciple with the harsh reality that all his fine efforts to serve the Lord in bringing light, peace and healing to the world are not necessarily going to meet with approval, but very possibly outright hostility, even from the nearest and dearest members of his own family. How important then that the disciple has the foundation of his hopes laid up in heaven and that he has relinquished his expectations of any earthly reward concerning his labours for Christ. The disciple has only one recourse when faced with rejection and opposition, he must be able to set his eyes on heaven and the rewards that await him there. He must be able to look to the example of Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb.12:2). The disciple must expect his "well dones" only from his Master, those who look elsewhere will soon be dejected and disappointed and close to giving up the life of a disciple.
In this respect it is helpful to consider the life of discipleship using the Biblical metaphor of a pilgrim or stranger. As followers of Jesus we need to be very clear in our minds that we are no longer citizens of this world, but citizens of the household of God (Eph.2:19), people who have been delivered from the power of darkness and "transferred" into the kingdom of Jesus (Col.1:13). This world is not our home, heaven is, and our life on earth is a journey through a strange, often hostile land in which we have no rights yet in which we seek to be ambassadors for the kingdom of God. The patriarchal fathers are our great example here: Abraham, who "by faith dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country" (Heb.11:9) and Jacob and Isaac,
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland (Heb.11:13,14)
These men (with their families) were prepared to live nomadic lives, dwelling in tents, because they believed God and took him at his word, not setting their desires on earthly wealth and honour but on the things of heaven. How much more should we as New Testament disciples be able to do the same? We who have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (Eph.1:13,14)? We who through the resurrection of the Lord have the "living hope" of an "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven" for us (1Pet.1:3,4)? We who have Jesus' own promise of a place prepared for his disciples in his Father's house (Jn.14:2)?
Brothers and sisters in Jesus, have you renounced your citizenship of this world? Have you confessed that you are a pilgrim and a stranger on this earth? Is your desire set on your heavenly home? If so then your life is a faithful testimony to the reality of the kingdom of heaven and God is not ashamed to be called your God (Heb.11:16). Or is your life so entangled with the affairs of the world that God is ashamed to confess you as one of His own?
Our modern British society is founded on materialism and human achievement, it leaves little room for the religious and spiritual aspects of life. It seems that many of the Lord’s people find it extremely difficult to break away from society's hold, we will only do so when we are fully convicted of the worthlessness of worldly things and the true value of heavenly things. Jesus taught that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mt.6:21); today he is looking for disciples who have their hopes laid up in heaven, their hearts set on following him and who are willing to forsake all this world's pleasures to do so. Such are the true disciples of Jesus who will make a real impact in the world, pilgrims and strangers sharing the love and power of the gospel as they make their way home.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in you
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage
As they pass through the Valley of Weeping, they make it a spring
The rain also covers it with pools
They go from strength to strength, each one appears before God in Zion
Psalm 84:5-7
Chapter 5
In the last four chapters we have been looking at the essential qualities that make a true disciple of Jesus Christ, and declared them to be the foundational properties on which a life of discipleship must be built. These foundations were found in Col.1:3-8 and are: 1) conviction of the gospel truths; 2) faith in Christ Jesus; 3) love for all the saints; and 4) hope laid up in heaven.
It has been my assertion that we cannot expect any believer to make much headway on the path of discipleship until he or she is seen to be exhibiting these qualities in their daily lives. Right at the beginning I asked the question, "How can we make disciples who abide in Jesus' word in preference to converts who fall away within a few weeks of their decision to follow Christ?" I want to conclude by summarising the answer in two parts:
1. Preach the gospel
Whenever there has been revival I'm sure you will also find there has been faithful and anointed preaching of the gospel of salvation. This should be no surprise because the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation" (Rom.1:16). True gospel preaching must emphasise the grace of God and the plight of the sinner as well as the facts of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Preaching of the gospel does something in the human spirit which nothing else can, for it is God's appointed way of bringing a sinner to understand his condition, to acquire belief in Jesus and to appreciate the truth of Jesus' death on the cross. We cannot expect any significant spiritual growth until a believer is well grounded in his understanding of the gospel, this ensures there is deep appreciation of the wonder of salvation; a solemn regard for the horror of sin and its consequences along with a grateful response in the total surrender of our lives in service to the Saviour.
Today we are in desperate need of a return to "cross centred" preaching and teaching in our churches, the cross is the keystone to our understanding of all that God and His word has to teach us. Too much of what we hear in our churches has for its centre such subjects as faith, end times and miracles, all good topics to study, but if not anchored to a correct understanding of the cross the hearers are left floundering and tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Eph.4:14).
Believers who will show the best growth are those who are "grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven" (Col.2:23).
Let's pray that the true gospel will again be at the centre of the preaching in our churches and in our evangelism throughout the nation.
2. Set the standard
Discipleship is not an easy option, we saw that its demand is the death of the old life in total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus, and forsaking all to follow Him. It is to live the new life of faith, love and hope with all aspirations firmly fixed in the heavenly realms. If the demands are great, yet so are the rewards; in this life joy, peace and the calm assurance of being at the centre of God's will, and in the next life an eternal home in the presence of the Lord. This brings us to the great challenge presented by these studies, because we must ask ourselves if we are fully committed to this life of discipleship? Disciples are made by disciples, do we have any right to complain about the standard of the spiritual life in our churches if we are not setting the example ourselves?
As I have been writing these articles this thought of setting an example has been continually before me as well as the question of where the responsibility for making disciples lies. Firstly, it must lie with those called to ministry to lay the correct doctrinal foundations in the lives of new believers so that they can confidently grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, knowing their lives are firmly anchored on sound Biblical truths. Secondly, responsibility lies with all who call themselves by the name "christian" to set the example by exhibiting faith in Christ Jesus, by showing love for all the saints and by living in such a way as to testify that their hopes are laid up in heaven. We have so let the Lord down in these areas, ministers (includes elders and deacons) are guilty of compromising gospel truths, many of us are guilty of compromise with worldly values, many of us have never fully surrendered to Jesus, many bear grudges against their brethren. As a result new converts are left with no real examples of discipleship, and when they begin to live the lives of true disciples as a result of their own discoveries in Scripture they are put down for being too radical or too extreme!
May the Lord in these days grant us the ability to examine ourselves in the light of His word, and renew within us that desire to serve Him and Him alone as worthy ambassadors in a dry and thirsty land that desperately needs the living water of the gospel.
Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels
(Mk.8:34-38)
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