A Heart To Make Disciples

In this message, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a heart for God and his word. They discuss the ultimate goal of making disciples and teaching others about Christ. They explain that a true disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ, not a follower of a church or a pastor. They highlight the need to continue in God's word and live out his teachings. They also mention the importance of denying oneself and being willing to endure whatever may come. Lastly, they emphasize that being a disciple is a continuous commitment to learning and serving Christ. Hello and welcome to the Believer's Bible Assembly. This is the day that the Lord has made and we're going to rejoice and be glad in it. Today what we're going to do, we're going to continue to talk about the heart. We have to have a heart for God and his word. We have to have a heart to study his word. We have to have a heart to teach his word. And today I want to continue that thought by talking about having a heart to make disciples because that's what it's all about. As a result of our heart for God and his word, as a result of our heart to study the word, as a result of our heart to teach the word, we're making disciples. That's the ultimate goal. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have been given the ministry to make disciples by helping people learn about Christ. We can't make anybody believe in Christ, but we have the ministry to disciple people to help them learn about Christ. And that's what it's all about. That's what we've been called to do. I want to talk about having a heart to make disciples today. And we have a heart to make disciples by teaching them. That's why we, in our previous lessons, we talked about studying the word and teaching the word because you can't teach something you don't know. But we have a heart to make disciples by teaching them. And what are we teaching them? To learn of Christ. What are we teaching them? To believe in Christ. What are we teaching them? To obey his words. That's what we're teaching people about Jesus Christ, how to learn of Christ, how to believe in Christ, and how to obey his words. Teaching people about Jesus and all that he has done for us on the cross, through his death, his burial, his resurrection. That's what we're talking about. That's what we're teaching people, to learn of Christ, learn what he's accomplished for us on the cross, to believe in what he did on the cross, and to obey his words because his word is truth. And every believer who truly loves the Lord must participate in the process of discipleship, teaching others about Christ. If you say that you're a believer and that you love the Lord, then you must participate in the process of discipleship, teaching others about Christ. So, in this lesson and the lessons to come, we're going to be talking about how to do that. I'm going to be sharing with you what that process is all about. But today, I want to talk about what is a disciple. Let's start from square one. What is a disciple? A disciple is being a follower of Jesus Christ. What is a disciple? A disciple is being a follower of Christ. And notice what I'm saying and notice what I'm not saying. I said a disciple is being a follower of Christ, not a follower of a church, not a follower of a pastor or minister. A disciple is being a follower of Jesus Christ. A disciple is not a church member because every church member does not follow Jesus Christ. So, in the beginning, we need to distinguish between the two terms. A true disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ, period. Not a follower of a pastor or apostle or whatever, prophet. They're not a church member. They're followers of Jesus Christ. John 8.31 says this, So he said to the Jews who had believed him, If you continue in my words, you are my disciples. This is Jesus now. He's defining what a disciple is. He says, If you continue in my words, If you continually obey my teaching and living in accordance with them, then you are truly my disciples. So a disciple of Jesus Christ, a true disciple of Jesus Christ, is one who's going to continue in his word. He's going to continue to follow Christ by continuing in his word. That's the proof, that's the evidence that you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ. And not just following in his words, but living out his words in your life. So a true disciple is one who follows Christ. Not a man, not an organization, but a true disciple is one who follows Christ and continues in his word. So that means no matter what happens, whatever goes on in their life, they're going to continue in his word. Because that's the proof, that's the evidence that you are a follower of Christ, that you believe his word, and that you are obedient to his word. So a true follower of Christ is one who continues in his word. Secondly, a disciple of Christ is one who denies themselves. Matthew 16, 24 says, then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. So number two, a disciple is one who denies themselves. If we're going to follow Jesus, which is what a disciple is, we must deny ourselves. What does that mean? We have to set aside selfish interests. We have to set aside selfish interests. That means it's not about us no more. It's all about Jesus Christ. I have decided to follow Jesus, and there's no turning back. And to be a true disciple, I must deny myself. I must set aside my selfish interests. It's no longer about me, myself, and I. Like John the Baptist said, I must decrease so that Christ can increase. So a true disciple must deny himself, set aside selfish interests, and take up his cross. What does that mean? Expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come. A willingness to endure whatever may come. That's what the phrase take up his cross means. Then Jesus goes on to say, and follow me. What does that mean? Believing in me. Conforming to his example in living. So that's what it means to deny oneself in order to be a follower of Jesus Christ. You must set aside your selfish interests. Unfortunately, too much preaching in the church world today is about self. Jesus just said here in Matthew 16, 24, you've got to deny self. Why are we preaching and teaching about self? When Jesus said you have to deny self, you have to set aside your selfish interests. So it's not about you reaching your destiny, having your best life now. It's not about you being prosperous. Those are self interests. Jesus said you have to deny all that. You have to set all that aside. Take up your cross, expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come, and follow me. Believing in me. Conforming to my example and my way of living. And if you do that, you'll have whatever you need. Matthew 6, 33 says it. Seek first the kingdom of God. When you deny yourself and follow Jesus, you're seeking first the kingdom of God. And all the things will be added unto you. Instead of seeking things and following after things, we have to set those things aside and follow Jesus, if you are to be a true disciple of Jesus. Listen, Jesus don't have a problem with you having things. He has a problem with things having you. And the Bible clearly states that no man can serve two masters. So you're either following Christ or you're following things. But you can't follow things and Christ. I have decided to follow Jesus, and there's no turning back. So that means I've got to put aside those selfish interests. Think about it. Selfish interest is only going to benefit one person. That's self. It's not going to benefit the kingdom. It's not going to benefit Jesus Christ. So a true disciple is one who denies himself. In Luke chapter 5, verse 27, 28, it says, After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. And Jesus said these words, Follow me. And Levi got up, left everything, and followed him. Now, Levi, we know him by Matthew, by the name Matthew. And he was a tax collector. At this time, a tax collector was a lucrative business, collecting taxes and getting percentage off of it. But Jesus saw him sitting in the booth, and he said, Follow me. What did Matthew do? What did Levi do? He got up, left everything, this lucrative profession that he was in. He left everything and followed Jesus. So, Pastor Mike, what are you saying? I got to quit my job? No, I ain't saying that. But it comes between your job and following Jesus. Ever the day came that you had to make that decision, the right decision would be to follow Jesus. Because whatever you think you lost is only going to be a gain because you're following Jesus. And if you try to hold on to the thing that you think is going to benefit your life, Jesus said you're going to lose that. So, Levi said, Look, I'm going to leave everything, this tax business, this lucrative business, and I'm going to follow Jesus. And as a result of that, the reason why we know Matthew, because he wrote one of the Gospels. So, he got up, left everything, and followed Jesus. Matthew 4, verse 1920, says this. Jesus said, Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And at once, they left their nets and followed him. Being a fisherman in this day was another lucrative profession. Because you would go out and you'd catch the fish, and then you'd go into the market and sell the fish. But Jesus said, Listen, you're good at getting fish, but I'm going to teach you how to fish for men to make other disciples. Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And at once, they left their nets and followed him. So, to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to be willing, and that's the key word, willing to set everything aside. You have to be willing to take up your cross and to endure whatever may come. You have to be willing to believe in Christ and conform to his example and his way of living. A disciple is one who denies themselves in order to follow Christ. Number three, a disciple is a committed learner, is a committed learner. A committed learner is one who has cemented himself as a servant, as a student of Christ. Christ is his master. Christ is his teacher. And he has cemented himself as a servant or student to Christ and his teachings. And this is not a one-time thing, but it's a continuous thing. Being a disciple is not just joining a church. You don't join a church and automatically become a disciple, no. A disciple is a follower of Christ. A disciple is one who denies himself. A disciple is one who is a committed learner. I want to share the scripture with you. It's from mere passage of scripture, Matthew 11, chapter 28, 29. It says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. We've heard that scripture in church, but the focus has always been the weary and the burden and the rest. Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary, who are burdened, and I will give you rest. And then he goes on to explain what that means. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. What does that mean? Follow me as my disciple. Submit yourself to me and my teachings. You want rest? You tired of being weary and burdened? Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Follow me as my disciple, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. The word soul means your life, your heart, your mind, your inner person. How is all this going to be accomplished? By learning from me or learning of me, about me. That's how you get rest for your weary, burdened souls. And a lot of people are weary and burdened and heavy laden, and it's a cycle in their life. Jesus said, No, you can break that cycle. By taking my yoke, what I've done, upon you. If you're trying to do it in your strength, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Follow me as a disciple. A disciple is a committed learner, and we have to be committed to learn from the word. There's nothing wrong with going to school. There's nothing wrong with going to college. But you're learning from the world. Jesus don't want you learning from the world. He wants you to learn from him, and you learn from him by learning the word, because it's the word that teaches about Jesus Christ. So if you're tired and weary and burdened down, don't have any rest in your life, don't have any peace in your life, don't have any joy in your life, there's a reason for that. Because you're not following Jesus. You're not learning of Jesus. And you're trying to journey through life in your own power, in your own strength, in your own abilities, and in your own knowledge. And you're never going to find the rest and the peace and the joy that you're looking for. That's only found in Jesus Christ. He said, follow me and you will find rest for your soul, your life, your heart, your mind, your inner being. As committed learners, we have to commit to study, and we have to commit to learning about Jesus Christ. As disciples, we are to learn, study, and be instructed, following Jesus as his disciple by following his word. What are we talking about today? We're talking about what is a disciple? A disciple is a follower of Jesus. A disciple is one who denies himself. A disciple is one who is a committed learner. A disciple is one who proclaims the gospel and makes disciples by teaching them to obey his commandments. Matthew 28, 19, Jesus said, go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now, just like the previous scripture I read in Matthew 11, we get caught up in Matthew 28, 19 about the wrong things. People debating about whether you baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or you just baptize in the name of the Son. Listen, that's the first thing that Jesus said for us to do. Jesus said, go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, and we talked about this in a previous lesson. What does that mean? Helping people to learn of me. Helping people to believe in me. Helping people to obey my words. The baptism is secondary. It's not primary. But the making of disciples, helping people to learn about Jesus Christ and to believe in Jesus Christ and to obey his word, that's primary. And everybody's been called to make Jesus known. Disciples are to speak the word, share the word, and to teach the word, to lead others to Jesus Christ. We've been brought up to believe that's only the role of the pastor or the minister. No, they have their roles, they have their functions, and their purpose in the body of Christ. But everybody, every disciple has been called to speak the word. Every disciple has been called to share the word and to teach the word and to lead others to Jesus Christ. First Peter chapter 3 verse 15 says, but in your hearts, sanctify Christ as holy, acknowledging him, giving him first place in your life. Always be prepared. Always be ready to give a logical defense or a logical answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope, the confident assurance that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect. So every believer has to be ready to give a logical answer to anyone, to everyone who asks you about the reason for the hope, your confident assurance that is in you. But you can't do that if you don't first sanctify Christ in your heart as holy, acknowledging him, giving him first place in your life. When you've done that as a disciple and you've read the word and you've studied, have done all these things that we've been talking about, you're ready now to share, to speak, to teach, whatever's necessary, to explain to someone about the hope that you have inside of you. And what's that hope? What's that confident assurance that is inside you? Jesus Christ. First John 4, 4. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. And so we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have experienced Christ. So now we have the responsibility and the obligation to tell other people about Jesus Christ, to give them hope, to give them a reason for hope. We live in a world of hopelessness, and it seems like it's getting more hopeless and more hopeless. People are giving up on life. But as a believer, because we're in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, that's the reason for our hope. That's the reason why we're not throwing in the towel, because we're hopeful. We're full of hope because of what Christ has done for us. So we have our confident assurance, and we have the responsibility and the obligation to tell somebody about it. But when you tell people your own testimony, you tell people about what Christ has done for you, what are you doing? You're leading someone to Christ, and that's what we're called to do. We're leading some people to Christ. And now it's up to them whether or not they accept it or not. We're hopeful that person will accept Jesus Christ. And then once they accept Jesus Christ, you wrap your arms around them, and you bring them into the fold, and you start teaching them about Jesus Christ and what he's done on the cross. So we have to be ready to share the good news about Jesus Christ. Paul said in Romans 1, verse 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And this is the good news that we are to be ready to tell others about, that salvation is available. And salvation comes through Jesus Christ, and it's available for everyone who believes, everyone who believes. There's no one that's excluded. John 3, 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. So the good news is available to everyone who believes. And we have the responsibility to share the good news with other people. A disciple of Jesus Christ is one who proclaims the gospel and makes disciples by teaching them to obey his commandments. Disciples are to be involved in evangelism. Evangelism is the process of bringing people to Christ through the word. So when you're sharing the word, what are you doing? You're exercising the process of bringing people to Christ through the word. It isn't about knocking on doors. It's not about standing on street corners. It's not about harassing people in the mall or in the grocery store. You're running people away from Christ because they think you're crazy. They think something's wrong with you. Instead of relationship, engaging people, talking to people, being concerned for people, trying to give them hope, and then you share the good news. So God is going to bring people in your sphere of influence, and he's depending on you to share the good news with them. They just need a word that's going to help them in their situation, and you have the word because the word is in you. Evangelism is the process of bringing people to Christ through the word. Mark 16, 15 says, and he said to them, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation. Acts chapter 1 verse 8 says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So you can do it. You have to have a willing mind to do it, and once you have a willing mind to do it, the Holy Spirit will give you the power. He will enable you, will equip you to do it. He gave his apostles an overall general mission to be witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. He didn't call you and I to do that. He called you and I to be a part of that. We ought to share the gospel, the good news, where we are in our Jerusalem, our family, our friends, our associates, people on our Facebook page. That's our Jerusalem, and you start there, but we've been called to proclaim the gospel, to participate in evangelism. As you go, make disciples. As you live, move, and have your being in this world, as you go to the grocery store, as you go about your normal everyday life, you have the mindset of making disciples. We're to proclaim the gospel where we are in our Jerusalem, our family, our friends, our associates. You pray and ask the Lord to help you in this process. Lord, who can I share the word with today? And be prepared for the Lord to send you somebody. If you ask the Lord to do it, he's going to send you somebody, and you've got to be ready. So this evangelism is part of our proclaiming the gospel, the good news, and evangelizing the word of truth to the world. The second thing we've been called to do is edification. What does that mean? Building people up to spiritual maturity in Christ through the word. Now, once you evangelize, once you brought them in, once you led them to Christ, once they say yes to the Lord, his invitation of salvation, then you wrap your arms around them, and you start building them up. You start growing them up. You start teaching them the word to mature them in Christ, because that's what edification is, building people up to spiritual maturity in Christ through the word. Ephesians 411 says he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for this purpose right here in Ephesians 4, verse 12. The purpose of ministry is to equip the saints for work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. So as a pastor, my job is to equip others for works of ministry. And what is that work of ministry? Building up people in the body of Christ. That's why these ministry positions exist, to equip saints to do the work of ministry. And we've been called to do that, and we've been called to prepare others to do that. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 3 says this, but he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, encouragement, and comfort. It says, but he who prophesies. Now, that word prophesies, the only thing it means is to speak forth the word of truth. And then this context right here is to speak forth what's already been spoken. What are you doing when you're speaking? You're prophesying. You're speaking forth the truth of the word. You're speaking forth what has already been written. You're speaking forth what has already been spoken. You're speaking forth what has already been proclaimed, the truth of the word. And when you do that, what are you doing? You're speaking to men, women, boys, girls for their edification. And that word edification means to promote their spiritual growth. So the words that you speak forth that comes from the word are designed to edify, to build up, to promote others' spiritual growth. Encouragement is to uphold and advise them concerning the matters of God. So not only while we're building people up, we're encouraging them. We're telling them about the matters of God to give them encouragement and to comfort. What does that mean? To speak words of consolation, to compassionately comfort others. You're giving people comfort through the word. You're sharing the word with them to build them up, to encourage them and give them hope, give them comfort, that the same Lord that did this in the scripture is ready, willing, and able to do this in your life as well. Do you believe that? That's what we've been called to do. That's the word that we are to share. Colossians chapter 1 verse 28, we proclaim him, Christ, not ourselves, but we proclaim him, Christ, admonishing, warning, and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. And that word perfect means mature, fully trained, and perfect in him, the anointed one. As disciples, we're supposed to be involved in evangelism and edification to bring people to Christ. And once they come to Christ, to build them up in the word. We are to continue this process of discipleship. Because once you've been discipled, now you have a responsibility and an obligation to disciple other people. It's a cycle. It never stops. It's a process of continuing spiritual growth. We're always growing. We're always learning. We're always encouraging. We're always edifying. We're always training, being built up. Second Peter 3.18 says, but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Grow. This is a continuing growth. Even those that do the decipher-making are still learning and growing. Hebrews 5.12.14, in fact, though by this time, you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. You might start off on milk, but through the process of discipleship, continuing spiritual growth, learning, encouraging, edifying, and training, at some point you need to put down the milk bottle and desire solid food. It's only through your desiring solid food that you're going to mature. And you mature by constant use, by putting into practice the things that you've learned so that you can be able to distinguish good from evil, knowing the truth of God's word, so you won't be deceived by the evil one, so you won't be misled by a lying, false preacher. Those who have been misled are people who still on milk. That's how they get hoodwinked and bamboozled, lied to, and their money taken from them, because they're still on milk. They don't even have a desire to grow or mature. You see, when you and I, we have to mature in the word, and you do that by constant use. It may not work the first time. It may not work the second time, but I'm going to keep plowing. I'm going to keep pressing forward. That's what the Apostle Paul said he's going to do. He's going to put those things that are in the past in the past. I'm pressing forward until I achieve the mark, which is Christ Jesus. And the last point I want to share with you today is that disciples of Christ are to become disciple makers. 2 Timothy 2.2, and the things that you have heard me say among many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men, faithful women, who will be qualified to teach others as well. You can't teach anybody nothing that you don't know. You can't lead someone anywhere that you haven't been. In order for you to make disciples, you first have to be discipled. Now you can make other disciples. And what's a disciple? A follower of Jesus Christ. But if nobody ever taught you how to be a discipler, how can you disciple? Philippians 4.9 says this, whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you. The only way you know that the Word works is you have to work the Word. You have to put the things that you learn into practice. That's why James says be a doer of the Word, not a hearer only, because if you're only a hearer of the Word, you're only deceiving yourself. And if you're only deceiving yourself, only thing you can teach others is how to deceive themselves. But if you're a doer of the Word, you can teach other people how to put the Word into practice. A follower of Jesus Christ becomes a disciple maker by first being discipled themselves. That's the only way you can be a disciple maker. That's the only way you can have a heart to make disciples. You first have been discipled yourself. And here's the reality. While all believers are called to make disciples, not all will respond because it requires a radical change of their lifestyle and way of thinking. A true disciple is one who denies self. You can't be self-focused and be so caught up in your self-interest, you'll never be a disciple. Because you're making it all about you and not about others. So you'll never become a disciple maker of Jesus Christ. All you can do is pass on your self-interest to other people. And that's going on in the church today with the prosperity gospel, with the live your best life now gospel. Everybody's promoting their self-interest. So they're going to places where others can teach them about how to promote their self-interest. It's all about you. The reality of it is it's all about Jesus Christ. So in order for you to become a disciple maker, you first must be discipled. And you must have the willingness to do the things you have to do in order to be discipled. You have to follow Jesus Christ. You have to deny yourself. You have to become a committed learner. Committed to the Word of God. You have to proclaim the gospel. You have to participate in evangelism and in edification. You have to continue in this discipleship process. Learning, growing, encouraging, edification. And you have to become a disciple maker. Start with your family. Start with your friends. The people that are in your sphere of influence. When you become a disciple maker, someone's going to run from you. Because they're not ready to change their lifestyle. They're not ready to change their way of thinking. You can't force discipleship on people. Even those who, quote, are born again. They're born again. They're a baby in Christ. They're on milk. But they don't want to grow because they want to change their lifestyle. They don't want to change their way of thinking. There is a cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It requires denial of oneself. It requires a total commitment to follow Christ. It requires a total commitment to follow his Word and his ways. However, there are eternal rewards for those who follow Christ and disciple others to do so as well. www.mooji.org