Monday, October 24, 2011

Disciple-Makers

In our Matthew study last night we looked at the issue of discipleship when we came to Matthew 4:17-22 which says, From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (18)  As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  (19)  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (20)  At once they left their nets and followed him.  (21)  Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,  (22)  and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

In this passage, we find some of the basic aspects of discipleship.
A disciple is a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher. Therefore, in discipleship, we should expect to find a similarity in doctrine between the teacher and his student and see a similarity in their lives.

Although Jesus wasn't literally a disciple of John the Baptist, he did let John baptize him before entering the ministry.
Consequently, you would expect the gospel that Jesus preached to be the same as John preached. For example, John's first words in Matthew 3:2 was repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near and Jesus' first words after his baptism here in our text was repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.This identical preaching marks one of the basic principles of discipleship. The disciple is going to follow the preaching and teaching of the fellow that trained him.

Other examples include: Jesus taught Paul what to preach (Gal. 1:11-12); Paul taught Timothy what to preach (1 Tim 1:2-3) and Timothy taught others (2 Tim. 2:2).

Paul urged Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.


God has called each of us to be disciple-makers (Matt. 28:19). Who are you pouring your life into?

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