R527 Making Disciples

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and his message, Making Disciples. As we study God's Word, know that we're connecting right now on our website at www.tewonline.org. It's the place to find resources like the new book from Charles Stanley or the book about Dr. Billy Graham.

It's all online at www.tewonline.org. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. I'm going to invite you to take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Matthew's Gospel and chapter 28. I want to encourage each one to have a copy of God's Word in front of you.

Matthew chapter 28. One of the most important questions we could ever ask of ourselves is, do we know why we exist? I think one of the things I appreciate about scouts is that the scouting program across America and around the world helps young people to come to grips with why they exist. There's a great sense of purpose in what they do, the values that they are taught and the principles upon which they stand which serve them right throughout life. I think it's also true to say that there are many times when people find themselves at different walks in life and they end up not knowing why they exist.

Now that happens to me. There are times in my life that I'll wake up in the morning or there'll be something going on in my life and it will diminish my sense of purpose. I'll say to myself, now what in the world am I doing? Why am I here?

What do I need to do while I am here? A sense of purpose is very, very, very important and it's no less important for the local church and for believers such as you and me today. That we know who we are and we understand why we exist. It's no less important for First Baptist Church as it would be for any evangelical church where the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is uplifted and held high. What we believe ourselves about ourselves is going to govern how we behave.

Now listen to me, friends. If you have a weak theology, you're going to have a weak lifestyle that will follow it. If you are weak in your belief about who God is, you're going to have a problem translating that into the exercise of your life. No different when it comes to a church. If we are weak in our sense of purpose, we are going to be weak in our sense of ministry.

If we're going to be weak in understanding why we're here, we're going to be awfully weak in understanding what it is that we're supposed to do while we're here. A church is not just a place to catch whatever goes. A church is not a group of people who are just there to kind of satisfy an itch that occurs from time to time. A church and God's church is there for a specific purpose, and God has placed us there. You'll remember in the first two messages, the first one I preached on, the church exists.

In our case, First Baptist Spartanburg exists. Why does the church exist? The second Sunday, which was three weeks ago, I preached on glorifying God. What does it mean to glorify God?

What is our purpose when it comes to glorifying God? Now this morning, we're going to get into an incredible subject, making disciples. I want you to look with me at Matthew chapter 28, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 18.

Before we read this, I want to tell you something. This statement that Jesus made must have been very, very, very important. After all, it was one of the last occasions Jesus said anything. I remember a couple of months ago, several months ago, a man who was very desperately ill, I was visiting him in hospital. Actually, I wasn't visiting him.

He wasn't a member of our church. I was visiting people in hospital, and his family saw me there, and they asked me if I would come in and have a word of prayer. When I walked into his room, he announced to his family, and there must have been 25 crammed in that hospital room, he said, I need to talk to Dr. Wilton by myself, and so there was a general evacuation. Everybody left, and I sat right next to him, right next to his bed, and he turned to me, and he said some things to me that I'll never forget. He began to share things from his heart.

You know what he was telling me? He was telling me his purpose for life, because he knew that he had very limited time. In fact, he passed away that night and went with the Lord.

He was a fine Christian man. And what he was telling me in those last few moments, he knew that he was about to die, and he said to me, Pastor, I want to tell you something, and he began to talk to me, and I knew it was important, because I knew that the man was very ill, and he was about to pass on to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 28, folks. We call this the Great Commission, but it was so important, because it was one of the last opportunities that Jesus had to say anything to those people that he loved.

So let's hear what he said. Verse 18, then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. By the way, at this point, you know what Jesus is about to do? Jesus is about to take that authority, all that authority and that power, and he's about to hand it over. He's about to commission all believers to carry on the work for which he came, the purpose for which Jesus Christ came to this earth. He is about to hand that over. He's about to pass his blessing, his mantle of blessing.

What did he say? He said in verse 19, Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe everything. I have commanded you and surely I am with you always, even unto the very end of the age. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts. I want us to look from God's Word this morning at this issue of making disciples. I'm going to submit to you today, my friends, that we as a church, as believers, as individuals who love Jesus Christ, we cannot ever make disciples if we don't understand three things. Number one, we must understand what discipleship is. We believe that God has called us with the express purpose of doing three things, and here they are. You see, we're not going to understand making disciples if we don't understand what discipleship is.

God has called us according to his Word to do three things. Discipleship means three things. Number one, it means salvation evangelism. Salvation evangelism. What is salvation? Salvation is knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. Salvation evangelism has to do with people who are brought to Christ Jesus.

That's the most profound involvement that you and I could ever have upon the face of the earth. We need to understand that when Jesus said, I want you to go and make disciples, he was trying to help us to understand the biblical mandate for discipleship, and the biblical mandate for discipleship is in three equal parts. Number one, salvation evangelism. Friends, we need to get out into the highways and byways of our world and our community to introduce people to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to know that I have been brought to Christ. I am a born again believer. I have been born once by my parents.

I've been born twice of the Spirit of the living God, and I'm only going to die once because I'm going to die physically. I am someone who has become a recipient of salvation evangelism. I have come to know Jesus Christ, to know his life eternal. And I want to introduce you to the Lord Jesus Christ today.

I want you to know him. That's the beginning point. It's not the end point. It's not the middle point. It's the beginning point.

It's the start of everything. You must know Jesus Christ, and I want you to know that Jesus Christ loves you with all of his heart, and he died for you, and he gave his life for you, and he wants you to belong to him. That's what discipleship means. It means number one, salvation evangelism. Friends, at First Baptist Church, we need to pour our heart and soul and everything that we have in reaching those who are not here yet. You see, church doesn't exist for those of us who are here.

Church exists for those who are not here yet. Number two, the second component of what a disciple is, is discipleship evangelism. First of all, salvation evangelism, that's when you come to know Christ, people brought to Christ.

Discipleship evangelism, people who belong to Christ. Now I want you to listen carefully. If you today can say, pastor, before God, I know the Lord Jesus Christ. I have repented of my sin.

What does that mean? It means that I've acknowledged my sin. I've confessed my sin to Jesus Christ. I have trusted, put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you've done that, you know that. Now, you might say to me, well pastor, I'm this and I'm that and I don't deserve... Yes, I'm saying to you today, if you have given your heart to Jesus Christ and you know it, raise your hand this morning. Come on, thank you, put your hands down.

I've got an announcement to make to you. If you raised your hand, you are a disciple. You're a disciple. A disciple is someone who is endeavoring to follow Jesus Christ, to do what Jesus said, to behave like Jesus behaves, to talk like Jesus talks, to minister like the Lord Jesus talks. You are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and we will never understand what it means to make disciples if we don't understand what discipleship means. Discipleship means salvation evangelism, people being brought to Christ. Discipleship means discipleship evangelism, those who have given their lives to Christ. But folks, there's a third component of discipleship and that is disciple making evangelism. You see friend, evangelism is incomplete until the evangelized become the evangelists. What has God called us to do when Jesus said, I want you to go into all the world and make disciples?

Here's what Jesus was saying. He's saying number one, I want you to be about the business of leading people to Christ. Number two, I want you to be about the business of discipleship evangelism, which means I want you to be about the business of cultivating those who are in Christ. But number three, I want you to have a clear cut goal in mind and that is disciple making evangelism.

I want you to be about the business of cultivating disciples to the point at which they themselves become disciple makers. They themselves are teaching others. They themselves are leading others to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I don't mind telling you this. One of the absolute greatest joys I have in this church is seeing the number of disciples who are becoming disciple makers. Folks, not everybody in this church is a disciple maker. There are many hundreds of you who are disciples and I thank God for you. But you are still growing to the point at which you become disciple makers. You have not matured in the faith. You're going to say to me, pastor, well, how do I become a disciple maker?

What do I need to do? You're doing it right now. You're in God's house. You're studying God's Word.

When Jesus said, make disciples, Jesus was saying, I want you to be about the mandate of discipleship. Please forgive the interruption. We'll get to the rest of today's message from Dr. Wilton in just a moment.

But he wants us to remind you we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you. Keyboard to keyboard on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. If you'd like to call, our prayer line is available 24 hours a day at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. And I want to give you an imperative. I want you to go out and deliberately make disciples.

Do you know what that means, folks? It means literally what God has said to me as your pastor. He said, I need to come to God's people in God's house and I need to look you eyeball to eyeball and I need to say to you, it is not good enough just to go to church on Sunday.

It is not good enough just to go to Sunday school on Sunday mornings and I'm glad you do. You must submit yourself to ongoing small group discipleship so that you can grow and you can be taught and you can be nurtured in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ to become all that God wants you to be. Number two, number two, we're never going to understand. We cannot make disciples unless we understand what a disciple is.

Folks, listen carefully. Number one, we have to understand what discipleship is. Number two, we need to understand what a disciple is.

I'm talking about all the hundreds upon hundreds who raised their hands just a moment ago. If you raised your hand, you're a disciple according to your claim. Who are you?

You ready for this? A disciple is one who has a personal testimony. A personal testimony.

You're going to say to me, Pastor, hold on a minute. If I have to have a personal testimony, what is a personal testimony and how do I know what a personal testimony is? A personal testimony has three components to it. You can write this down. You want to know this morning whether or not you're a disciple?

You're going to be able to write these three things down. Number one, the first component of a personal testimony. What you were before Jesus Christ came into your heart.

Can you testify to that? What you were before Jesus Christ came into your heart. The Bible says all of us have sinned. Outside of Jesus Christ, we are lost. No semblance of righteousness in us whatsoever. We are unforgiven.

We have no eternal destiny. We are lost in our sinfulness. Friend, do you understand what you were and your condition before Jesus Christ came into your heart? That's the first and foremost part of your personal testimony. That's what will determine whether or not you're a disciple.

Number two, second component. What you did in order to meet Jesus Christ. That's the middle part of your testimony. If you're a disciple, you've got a testimony. The second part of your testimony is what did you do in order to meet Jesus Christ?

Now listen carefully. There is nothing that you can do in order to come to know Christ because Christ has already done everything that needs to be done when He died upon the cross in order that I might know Him. But the Bible says there are certain things that I need to do in order to receive Him. Number one, I need to repent of my sin. What does repentance mean?

Repentance means three things. Number one, that I'm willing to acknowledge my sin. Have you acknowledged your sin? Number two, I'm willing to confess that sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you confessed your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Yes or no? Number three, I'm willing to place my trust in Jesus and receive Him into my heart. Have you placed your trust in Jesus and received Him in your heart? You see friends, that is what you and I do in order to receive Jesus.

In Acts chapter 3 and verse 19, we read, Repent and then be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out. So there's the second part of your testimony. Number one, who were you? What were you before Jesus came into your heart? Number two, what did you do in order to meet the Lord Jesus Christ?

Number three, here it is. What have you become since Jesus came into your heart? What are you becoming? Present continuous tense.

Folks, listen to me. That's why not all disciples are disciple makers because they have not grown in the Lord. They've stayed where they are.

They are stagnant. The Bible says, my friends, that if I am a disciple of Christ, I am someone who has a spiritual testimony. I can testify to what I was outside of Christ. I can testify to what I did in order to meet Christ and I certainly can testify on what I am becoming since I met the Lord Jesus Christ. What joy floods my soul since Jesus came into my heart. I had a wife in our congregation. I don't mind telling you, she probably wouldn't even mind, nor would he, who came to me a couple of weeks ago and she had tears running down her cheeks and she said to me, pastor, she said, I'm so glad that my husband gave his heart to Jesus Christ.

I said, I am too. She said, you would not believe the man I have in my home today. He is just different. He's different. He's got a different attitude. He's different with the children. He's different at work.

He just is different. There's such a joy in his heart and in his life. Do you know what she was telling me? She was saying to me, pastor, I've got a testimony. My husband's got a testimony.

He used to be like this. This is what happened when he accepted Jesus. But I want you to know since Jesus came into his heart, I've got a brand new husband and my children have got a brand new daddy and there's joy in our hearts and in our lives. Isn't that wonderful?

I love that. Oh, some of you men, you need to do an acid test right now. Turn to your wives and let them tell you whether you're any... No, don't do that right now.

There's an acid test, isn't it? All right, so Jesus said something, did he? Jesus said, I want you to go into all the world and make disciples. Now, let's put this to the test. All right, okay. What would you do if I suddenly changed all the rules this morning and I'm not leaving, by the way, and I was to come up back here somewhere and I was to say, all of those of you that raised your hand.

Some of you didn't know I was so good looking back here, did you? But if I was to come all the way back here and I was to go up to any one of you that raised your hand and said to you, won't you just stand up and share a word of testimony? Now, folks, you know I'm not going to do that to you on a Sunday morning. I know some of you are not public speakers and you not necessarily would want to get up and speak like I do and all those things and I would never embarrass you.

But listen to what I'm asking you today. If I was to just jump over some of these pews and say, excuse me, but you raised your hand a minute ago. You said you're a disciple. Do you have a testimony? What's a testimony? A testimony means that I can talk about what I was before Jesus came into my heart. It means that I can talk about how I came to know the Lord Jesus. Even though I may not know all my theology and my doctrine, I might get it all mixed up, it doesn't matter.

But I can talk about it and most importantly, I can tell you that since Jesus came into my heart, I've never been the same again. I'm a different person. I'm not a perfect person. Folks, let's not confuse this. You're not a perfect person.

You are different. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 and 17, therefore if anyone is in Christ Jesus, you become a brand new person. All things are passed away and behold, all things have become brand new. So Jesus, right there at the end of his ministry, turns to his disciples and he says, go into all the world and make disciples.

What did he mean? Well, we'll never know what he means if we don't understand what discipleship is. Salvation evangelism, discipleship evangelism and disciple making evangelism. We'll never understand it if we don't understand what a disciple is. A disciple is someone who has a personal testimony. Some of you might say to me, well pastor, how do I know if I'm a disciple? If I know the Lord, do you have a testimony? If you don't have a testimony, it means that something's wrong in that meeting.

You need to go back to Bates. You need to go back to the book. You need to go back there to the foot of the cross and say, Lord, something's wrong with this picture.

I want to settle this because I want to know that I know that I know that I know the Lord Jesus Christ. But friend, there's a third component to understanding discipleship. We need to understand what a disciple looks like. What a disciple looks like. Now here's where we come to where the water hits the wheel.

This is the tough part. Folks, if we at this church believe that our mission is to make disciples, what is the product that we're looking for? What is God looking for? What does the disciple maker look for?

Now I'm going to give you a list here and I'm going to tell you there are hundreds of us disciples. We are trying to get there. How do we get there? We submit ourselves to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

We sign up and get involved in small groups. You're not going to do it without it, folks. I'm just going to tell you now. You are not going to do it just coming to church on Sunday morning.

That's very important, but that's just the beginning. You're not going to do it unless you submit yourself to the systematic, that's like saying to a school kid, listen, I'm going to let you get educated, but you don't need to go to school during the week for 10 years. Are you listening, folks? We're going to get you educated, but you can just stay at home with mom and dad. We're not even going to homeschool you. We're just going to let you kind of catch it.

You don't have to go to school at eight o'clock on Monday morning through Friday, and you don't have to go through all these grades and take tests. And folks, when it comes to the church, we look at God's Word and we say God tells us to make disciples, but we are not willing to go to school in order to get where God wants us to go. We say, well, look, we'll just hang around for a while and try and catch it. Friends, there are too many of us who are hanging around trying to catch something that God has given us a mandate about what we need to do. So what does a disciple look like?

Well, let me give you some things to think about. Number one, the disciple is someone who loves the house of God. Number two, a disciple is someone who gravitates toward the people of God. Are we talking about the disciple maker, someone who is growing from a disciple to a disciple maker, someone who is maturing in the faith? A disciple, my friend, is someone who gravitates toward the people of God. A disciple is someone who hungers for the power and presence of God. Number four, a disciple is someone who shares his faith in God. Number five, we strive to do the will of God.

A disciple is someone who strives to do the will of God. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name, my friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you made a decision praying along with Dr. Wilton while ago to give your life to Christ, to rededicate your life, we have free resources we want you to have if you'll call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 or meet us at www.tewonline.org where you'll find great resources like this. The encouraging word is having a summer book sale. Book prices will start at $6.

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