#466 - Joby Martin // Make Disciples

0:01 Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christians' armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

0:20 Alright, welcome back to day three. Again, we'll read the whole passage, not out of laziness, but uh so that we can be more and more familiar with it. Paul says this, Philippians 2 17 and following, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

0:38 Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by the news of you. For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. All right, verse 19, I want to drill down on this.

1:02 We're gonna hop around the Bible just a little bit for the next two days, because I want you to see this relationship here. Paul says, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by the news of you. Timothy was a direct disciple of Paul. The question I want to ask you is who are you discipling?

1:23 You see, here's what Paul did. Paul meets Timothy in Acts chapter 16 in a place called Lystra. He goes in there to do ministry. People speak well of Timothy. And so Paul identifies Timothy as a young up-and-coming ministry leader. And so then what Paul does is Paul takes Timothy on the road with him in ministry.

1:43 He doesn't merely teach him what he knows. He says, Follow me as I follow after Christ. He raises him up, not by Timothy going to Paul ministry classes, but he raises him up by doing ministry together. Then by the time you get to Acts chapter 20, Paul gathers together the elders of the church at Ephesus.

2:03 He lays his hands on them. Timothy is included in this bunch, and he commissions Timothy. Timothy ends up becoming the pastor at the church of Ephesus, where in Acts chapter 19, Paul comes in, preaches the gospel, it causes a riot, and Timothy was raised up by Paul to be commissioned by Paul on purpose.

2:26 And then if you if you look at 1 and 2 Timothy, I believe one of the things that Paul imparts to Timothy is this. He lays his hands on Timothy. Timothy had all kinds of struggles. We'll talk about this tomorrow. And Paul implores Timothy with this God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2:46 Now let me ask you again. Here's the question: Who are you discipling? Because the great commission, this is what Jesus told us that we are to be about. He says in Matthew chapter 28, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always to the very ends of the earth.

3:15 Now, I don't know if you know this in Greek, but the word go is not an imperative. Maybe a better translation is as you were on the go or wherever you go, the only imperative in the Great Commission is this, make disciples. So if the Great Commission is that we are to make disciples, let me ask you again, have you ever done that?

3:32 Have you ever made a disciple? Well, first you have to be one. You have to surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But I would contend that can you really call yourself a disciple if you've never made a disciple, if the great commission is that we are to make disciples? And you may say, well, how in the heck do I do that?

3:50 Well, quite honestly, if you're involved in a local church, there's probably already a pretty sweet system set up that this week you should go volunteer in and you should be a disciple group leader, a Sunday school teacher, a small group leader. If you don't have that, then you should identify some younger folks in the faith and just say, How would you like to be discipled by me?

4:13 And if you begin to think, well, I'm not equipped to do it, well, that's what Kyle and I are here for. Watch 1122 online and talk about the sermon, or just watch the forging table and talk about whatever they talk about. But making the disciple is way more than just a knowledge transfer. In fact, when Jesus invited his disciples to follow after him, the language that would have been used in the first century is this may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.

4:42 The way I was discipled by Coach Boley, the guy that led me to the truck, he did not have a curriculum process for us to go through. His discipleship strategy was boy, get in the truck, and we did all kinds of things together. We studied the Bible together, we went to Walmart together, we cleaned out dog cages together, we cut grass together, and I just learned what it looked like to follow in the footsteps of a believer.

5:04 And you may ask yourself, you'd be like, Yeah, but who am I to make a disciple? I'm not ready. If you are a disciple, then you make disciples. And the best thing you'll ever do in your own discipleship is try to make a disciple. We say this all the time here at 1122. The greatest way for you to deepen your relationship with Jesus is help somebody else discover theirs.

5:26 So, how do you make a disciple? You identify them, you just invite them, you say, Hey, can I disciple you? Would you like to be discipled by me? You walk through the scriptures together and you walk through life together, and then don't miss this. And then at some point you lay hands on that young man or ladies, on that young lady, you speak life unto them, and then you commission them that as they have been disciples, therefore now go and make disciples.

5:52 May we not be merely consumers of this gospel, but may we be owners and contributors, disciples that make disciples that make disciples. Amen.

6:03 Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.