A Disciple Making Church
By Rev Charles Seet
(Preached at Life BPC, 8 am service, 7 Nov 2004)

Text: 2 Timothy 2:1-7

There are some things that we need to know in order to become a disciple-making church. The first is:

I. Why Should We Be a Disciple-Making Church?

The answer to this question is that every church member ought to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some who fall into error. They think that within any church there will be two kinds of members: Those who have made a commitment to be disciples of Christ and those who are not disciples of Christ, but they are just born again Christians. Nothing can be further from the Truth. Discipleship is really not an option for Christians. It is what being a Christian is all about. All we need to do to prove this is to look at the Great Commission that Christ Himself gave in Matthew 28:19, which says, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations…” The key word here is the word “teach.” (matheteuo, not didasko) This word in the great commission really means “to make disciples.” Christ does not want us just to bring about the salvation of souls. The commission He gave to us is to make disciples of all the nations.

By that definition every member of the church ought to be a disciple of Christ. One excellent example of a disciple-making church was the early church in Jerusalem. Everyone in it was a disciple! In Acts 9:10 Ananias is called a “disciple” - he was the one who ministered to Paul just after he was saved. In Acts 9:36 a woman named Tabitha who lived at Joppa is called a “disciple” - the account relates how she was raised from the dead by Peter. In fact in the book of Acts, the term “Christians” is hardly ever used to designate those who belong to the early church. The common term used to designate believers was actually “disciples.” This word is used no less than 277 times in NT.

Thus, we have seen that the church is actually meant to be a body of disciples of Christ. And every member of the church should therefore regard himself or herself as a disciple of Christ. When did you become a disciple of Christ? On the very day that you were saved!

Let us understand that receiving Christ is not the end but the beginning – The beginning of a life as a disciple of Christ. But perhaps we need to learn:

II. What does it mean to be a Disciple?

The meaning of this word is “a learner, or pupil.” It was not new, but found even in the Old Testament (Isaiah 8:16). This term was commonly used since ancient times to describe those who committed themselves to be attached like apprentices to a well-known teacher, philosopher or prophet in order to learn from him (e.g. Elisha, to Elijah). Such learning required at least two things from each disciple: firstly, the cultivation of a close relationship, and secondly, humble submission. A disciple must have close relationship with his master. Besides that, he must also stand in a subordinate relationship of commitment to this master.

The disciple’s responsibility was to follow and serve his master faithfully wherever the master went, and at the same time, to take time and effort to learn carefully all the teaching and skills that his Master wanted to impart him. He must be teachable. The Master’s responsibility was to impart not only his teaching, and his skills but also his life to the disciple. Then at the end of the discipleship, the disciple would be just like his master.

He would become almost like a reproduction or replica of his master. Only then would he be qualified enough to take over his work when his Master passed away. And after that it would be his turn to repeat the process of discipleship with the next generation of disciples, imparting all his knowledge and skills to them. As the master’s life has been successfully reproduced in his own life, he now has the task of reproducing the master’s life in others and teaching them to do the same thing to the next generation. By such means, there would be a faithful and ongoing perpetuation of the Master’s life and teachings. They would not become extinct.

This practice of disciple-making was not new in the time of Christ, nor was it limited to Israel alone. Even six hundred years before Christ, Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle already had their own groups of disciples who perpetuated their knowledge for many generations. At the time of Christ, John the Baptist also had his own group of disciples. And they apparently continued for at least one or two generations, because in Acts 19, the apostle Paul found disciples of John the Baptist as far as Ephesus. We know that Christ had twelve carefully chosen disciples when He was on earth. They followed Him closely throughout his three-year ministry. And through this first generation of twelve disciples, many others became disciples of Christ later on.

Thus we have seen that disciple-making requires two things from us: the building of a close relationship, and humble submission on the part of the disciple. This applies to our discipleship to Christ. We must be maintaining a close relationship with Him through reading His Word and constant prayer, and we must be submitting ourselves fully to Him in every area of our lives. But we must not stop there. Since disciples must keep on reproducing themselves, we must see to it that we make disciples of others.

Many of us here, I believe have been in Life Church for some years by now. I trust that we have learned much and grown towards Christian maturity, through the ministry of the Church and through influence of more mature members in our church. You have grown up through the messages in the worship service, through the ministry of the Sunday School, through being in a fellowship or NBC, and through your own daily Quiet Time. The time must come for you to reproduce yourself spiritually. It is your responsibility to pass on what you have gained, to others. It is not right just to keep on receiving and receiving all the time, without ever giving.

One illustration that is commonly used to show this is about the two seas in Israel – the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee receives abundant water from the melting snow of the mountains. But it constantly gives as well, since most of the water flowing in the River Jordan comes from the Sea of Galilee. The water of the Sea of Galilee is always clear and fresh and teeming with fish. In contrast to that, the Dead Sea is lifeless because it is much too salty for any life to exist. That is why it is called the Dead Sea. And unlike the Sea of Galilee, The Dead Sea does not give out its water at all. The water just evaporates, leaving salt behind. Any fishes that swim into it will die instantly. This sea only keeps on receiving and receiving, but it never gives. Is your life like the Sea of Galilee, or is it more like the Dead Sea?

If you want to be like the Sea of Galilee, learn to give and not just to receive. As the life and teachings of Christ have been poured into your life, go on to pour it into the life of someone else. This can be done this in many ways. One way is bring your close friends and loved ones to Christ, and then start making disciples out of them. Another way is to start with those who are already right here in our church, but who are young in their faith and walk with the Lord. There are many people in our midst who are in need of someone who is able and willing to spend time with them, to build them up spiritually, and be a ‘spiritual mentor’ to them. If we all get to know one another well enough, we can build relationships in our church that can facilitate the making of disciples in our midst.

III. A Biblical Example of Making Disciples

One passage that provides us with a good example of making disciples is our text of 2 Timothy 2:1,2 – “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

In these verses we see the apostle Paul writing to Timothy about Timothy’s discipleship to him. The historical background of this is quite interesting. (Acts 14:8-22) Long before Paul wrote it to him, Timothy was converted under Paul’s ministry at a place called Lystra. This took place during Paul’s first missionary journey around AD 46, and during the return part of that same journey when Paul revisited Lystra, Paul confirmed (i.e. followed up) the souls of the disciples. Timothy was probably among them who were followed up by Paul. About 2-3 years later, during the second missionary journey, Paul visited Lystra again and by this time, Timothy had already become spiritually mature, serving the Lord at churches both in Lystra as well as the neighbouring city of Iconium.

At this time, Paul decided to invest his time and effort into discipling Timothy. He took Timothy along with him for the rest of his second missionary journey. As they travelled together, Timothy was trained by Paul. Timothy learned all the doctrines of the Scriptures personally from Paul. Timothy also learned much through the fine example of Paul’s Christian life, especially lessons on how to trust and serve Christ faithfully despite untold hardship and persecution. Paul’s consecrated life was as much a medium of instruction as his words.

It was during one of these crises that Timothy received his first assignment from Paul – to go to Thessalonica and encourage the persecuted Christians there that Paul was unable to visit. He began to use the spiritual gifts God had given to him. Later on, Timothy was sent on other assignments to places like Philippi and Corinth. The final assignment Timothy received was to oversee the church at Ephesus – A church that was located in a very important city on the coast of Asia Minor.

Because of the difficult problems that Timothy had to deal with in this church, Paul wrote two epistles to him: They are found in our Bibles as 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. By this time, Timothy had already mastered the things that he had received from Paul, and was thus regarded no longer as a disciple, but as a brother, a servant of God and a fellow-labourer of Paul.

And now, in this epistle, which is Paul’s last recorded words to Timothy, as Paul now faced the prospect of being tried and executed at Rome, he wrote these poignant words: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” With these words, Paul the apostle was telling Timothy “Timothy, my son, remember all the things that you heard of me, throughout all the 20 years of your discipleship with me. The time has now come for you to do the same thing that I have done with you. Commit all that you have learned to faithful men, just as I had committed them to you.”

Dearly beloved, the Lord may be speaking to some of us here this morning. Perhaps He wants you to commit what He has entrusted to you to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And He has been telling people throughout biblical history to do the same thing: He commanded Moses to train Joshua and to entrust him with the task of bringing the Israelites into Canaan. The Lord also commanded Elijah to train Elisha, so that after Elijah was taken up to heaven, his fiery miracle-working ministry was able to continue on in Israel through him.

If more Lifers are willing to spend their time in making disciples, and those who are discipled by them will do the same for others, think of what the Lord can do in our midst. We can become a disciple-making church!

Disciple making is actually a very a worthwhile investment of your life. Your own spiritual life will grow tremendously as a result of doing it. I would therefore urge you to ask the Lord to lead you to someone whom you can influence and build up for Him. It may be a fellow Lifer, or a student in your SS class (if you teach in SS) or a visitor to our church who happens to sit with you during the worship service. It may even be someone within your own family who attends church with you.

Whoever he is, make that person your Timothy. Commit yourself to patiently spend your time, in order to teach and guide and lead him toward spiritual maturity and service. And when he has started to grow in these areas, encourage him to do the same thing for someone else, so that the discipleship process will continue for many generations.

In 2 Timothy 2:2 we can observe that there are no less than four generations of disciples in this verse: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul - the first generation, then Timothy - the second generation, followed by faithful men and finally, others. It is like a chain reaction.

Let us all realise that we are actually part of chains of generations of disciples that link us right back to the apostles. You are now a new link that has been added to the end of your chain. But are you going to be the last link that ends your chain? Or are there going to be more links added to your chain after you? If you do your part in discipleship, who knows that somewhere along the whole chain, after you God may raise up one who will become a great missionary, evangelist pastor or revivalist, who will be used mightily to bring many into His kingdom? A member of our church once shared with me that he brought a young man to Christ years ago and that person is now a pastor of a B-P church!

It is interesting to study the lives of well-known missionaries and great men of faith, as you will sometimes be able to trace a spiritual lineage. One such lineage began with John Wycliffe who translated the English Bible. He influenced John Huss, the Reformer from Bohemia who was martyred. He in turn influenced August Francke, the Founder of the Pietist movement. Francke discipled Count Von Zinzendorf, who in turn discipled the Moravians, who influenced John Wesley and George Whitefield. Whitefield crossed the Atlantic and influenced Jonathan Edwards the New England Revivalist, who in turn influenced David Brainerd, the missionary to the Indians, whose writings influenced William Carey who became known as the founder of modern missions and himself went as a missionary to India. And the chain goes on and on from generation to generation! It is truly an exciting movement of disciple-making!

Now it must be mentioned that the chain of disciple-making is only effective so far as it faithfully passes on what it is supposed to pass on. I think we all know what often happens when a message is passed on along a whole line of people: by the time it reaches the end of the chain, it is often distorted out of shape! This is why in 2 Timothy 2:2, there is an emphasis on faithfulness. Paul says: “commit to faithful men…”, men who can be entrusted to convey the message faithfully. Now the most important part that we must be faithful to pass on in making disciples is the Lord Jesus Christ. This leads us to:

IV. The Goal of Making Disciples

This goal which must be maintained at all times is nothing less than to be like Christ. Discipleship can be defined as follows: “Christian discipleship is developing a personal lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which He transforms your character into Christlikeness; changes your values into His values; and involves you in His mission in the home, the church and the world.”

This definition is based on the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul said to the Galatian Christians: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” (Galatians 4:19). He wrote to the Colossians: “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:27).

How is Christ to be formed in a disciple’s life? How is every man to be presented perfect in Christ Jesus? God has already provided all the means necessary to accomplish this. They are: the Word of God, Prayer, and the Holy Spirit. These three are absolutely indispensable in the whole process of disciple-making. The more that a disciple studies the Scriptures, prays and walks in the Spirit, the more he will become conformed to the image of Christ. Therefore when we make disciples, our objective is to instill in them the habits of having personal Bible Study, prayer and living the Spirit-filled life.

It is exciting to see believers growing as a result of mastering these basics. Those who have made disciples before can testify how thrilled they are to see the Lord working in the lives of believers. But let us remember that while growth and development are good, we must not be satisfied until the ultimate goal of Christlikeness is attained. This must be our own personal goal for ourselves, and it must be the goal that we have for others. Once we lose sight of this goal, our work of making disciples will lose its focus. Instead of reproducing disciples of Christ, we may actually end up merely reproducing replicas of our own fallen sinful selves!

V. The Process of Making Disciples

As we bring this message to a close, let me outline briefly the various steps in the process of discipleship from beginning to end. Let us imagine that someone you know has made a commitment to receive Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour. What should you do? The first step is to give him some immediate follow-up advice. This immediate follow up advice consists of three things: How he can be sure that he is truly saved, Why he should talk about his new faith in Christ, and the fact that he has just taken the first step in a life of discipleship to Christ.

After this you can begin to do a follow-up course or basic programme of Bible study with him that will last for about 4-10 sessions. There are many different courses you can use for these initial Bible studies. Any initial follow up course should cover these areas: Assurance of faith, Knowing the Bible, The church, prayer, Quiet time, Witnessing, The Lordship of Christ, and Baptism. Once these basic doctrines have been studied, the new Christian will become established in the truth, and he will not be easily swayed by false doctrine.

In the midst of this whole disciple-making process, always keep your goal in mind: It is to have the characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ reproduced in the life of the disciple. Paul said in Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me....” If Christ is evidently living in the disciple and and if you can see Jesus in him, then you have accomplished the goal of making disciples.