THE HOW OF MAKING DISCIPLES

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Here again are Jesus' words, giving a very direct command to those who want to continue following Him: And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

Remember, there is only one command here from Jesus and that is to make disciples-to make followers of Jesus of all nations. Also, keep in mind this is making followers of Jesus, not making followers of your religious persuasion. It's not making followers of your traditions and culture. This is all about making followers of Jesus, who supersedes all religious beliefs and systems and founders. This is Jesus without religious baggage of any kind.

Most people make the mistake of thinking the command here is to go, because of the English wording here. There is no commandment to go, to baptize or to teach. These are participles giving us guidelines on how to make followers of Jesus.

The first participle is BY GOING. This has to do with initiating the follow-through on the command to make disciples. I think this action is best described for us today as introducing everyone everywhere we can to Jesus. We are not to be taking mission trips for the purpose of conversion, but to advance the conversation of Jesus in whatever culture we enter. Jesus fits and is attractive to every culture; your religious system is not. When you go to convert people to your way of thinking, persecution is inevitable.

The second participle is BY BAPTIZING. To baptize means to immerse a person into something-literally to dip into. If you take a white cloth and dip it into a bucket of red dye, your cloth will have a new identification-red. This is the essence of baptism. It is the action of identifying a person with something. John was known as the baptizer. He baptized or identified people with repentance-changing their minds about their stance before God. Jesus identified Himself with John's baptism of repentance. Then Jesus baptized or identified or immersed people with His Spirit.

Listen to how John compared his baptism with that of Jesus: And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:7-8)

The Gospel of John puts it this way: Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water." John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God." (John 1:24-34)

Jesus extends this identification with His Spirit when He has His disciples wait for the Spirit to come upon them with power: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

NOTE the spread of the message of Jesus to make followers throughout the world is natural, when His Spirit comes upon you.

The third participle is BY TEACHING. This action of incarnating Jesus within the discipleship process is to teach all who will listen to observe and obey all that Jesus taught and commanded. It's learning to flesh out Jesus making Jesus your life's reference point and focal point. It's embracing Jesus as a lifestyle. This is not indoctrination, but incarnation of Jesus in every way possible.

Now, here is the key to the "how" of making disciples. There are two lines that cannot be overlooked. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

FIRST-"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Authority is the rights and power to do whatever He wants. How much is "all"? All means everything; no other authority that matters exists.

SECOND-"I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Get this! The same Jesus who has all authority, rights and power in the universe is the one who is with you always-even to the end of the world.

If you are going to be effective in making disciples or followers of Jesus, you must be a follower of the one who has all authority, rights and power and who is always present with you. If this Jesus is present with you, then those you touch will not only see it; they will sense Jesus in you!

MAKING DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS

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This week I want to revisit what it means to follow through with what Jesus commanded us to do. It has been called the "great commission." Don't get sidetracked from the primary command here. The only command is to "make disciples of all the nations." He offers three participles on how we are to make disciples-(1) by going, (2) by baptizing and (3) by teaching. Today I want to only deal with the command and tomorrow with the three participles.

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

Who is the target on which we are to focus for making disciples? Who are we to disciple? Note that Jesus makes it clear that we are to disciple "all of the nations." Nations would be better to translate as "cultures." We are to make disciples of people from all of the cultures of the world who are not now disciples. Disciples of what? A certain religion? A specific theological system? No, we are to make disciples of Jesus-followers of Jesus. Our audience is made up of all people everywhere who are not now followers of Jesus.

The initial exposure to the nations of the world happened on one day at the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 2:4-6: And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. So, instantly the seed of the message of Jesus was planted in the hearts of men and women from the nations of the world.

Peter, trying to stick to his cultural traditions and religious Law was confounded by God to realize that God was willing and able to work with every nation or culture of the world. Check this out: Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus the Christ (He is Lord of all)-you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." (Acts 10:34-43)

NOTE Peter realized quickly that "in every nation or culture the man who fears God and does what is right is welcome to Him." By the way, that means from every religion as well. God is already at work in people's hearts all over the world in every culture, not to join our culture and religious expression, but they are welcome to God for themselves!

Paul and Barnabas entered the city of Lystra, healed a man and the people believed they were gods-Zeus and Hermes, who had come to the city. Then after hearing them speak and reject their worshipping of them, the Jews attacked them. The crowds were stirred up to attack Paul and they actually stoned him, leaving him for dead. With the disciples there in Lystra, he amazingly had the strength to get up, went back into the city with the disciples and moved on with Barnabas the next day to another city, Derbe. NOTE that their end game was to make disciples of Jesus there: After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith. (Acts 14:21-22)

When Paul spoke to the people in the marketplace of Athens, he said, "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

NOTE God gave all people life and breath, making every nation or culture of the world. He determined each culture's boundaries and activities in order that they might seek God-by groping and finding Him, since God is not far from anyone. Then Paul says, since all created people are the children of God, we ought to be able to discover and connect with God through His further revelation. This revelation is not through some image or idol, but is in fact a man who was raised from the dead. His name? Jesus.

On several occasions in the book of Revelation the message of Jesus is said to have gone out to "a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues." This can only happen if we are focused on making disciples of Jesus everywhere, not converting people to become a member of one of our religious systems. Jesus is above all of man's religious systems. Jesus, the incomparable and irresistible Jesus!

THE UNKNOWN GOD-PART V

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Who were the disciples of Jesus? These were men who were trained in Judaism up to a point. Rabbis taught them, until they were not chosen by any rabbi to continue in their studies. Therefore each of these first disciples of Jesus educationally and professionally was somewhat of a "loser" and sent back home to either take up the profession or trade of their fathers or find a new one altogether. But they weren't chosen to be a disciple of any of the rabbis. Can you imagine the pressure in that early society to progress to the point of being a disciple of a respected rabbi? The Jewish mothers were so proud of their sons who had proved themselves acceptable to a rabbi and then one day would actually become a rabbi.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the call of Matthew by Jesus. Let's look at it. 9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Matthew's mom was never able to brag about her son, the rabbi. He just didn't make it! Matthew was steeped in the belief that one must perform in order to be acceptable to God and welcomed into the Kingdom. Matthew knew he was not able to match up with this kind of performance. Now this is where Jesus blew the mind of Matthew.

As Matthew sat in his tax stand at the edge of the water of the Galilee, he most likely not only heard many of Jesus' messages and saw several miracles, he also had been privy to the rumor-mill about this radical rabbi, Jesus. Here's where Jesus introduces His revolutionary message of love and acceptance.

He walked up to Matthew and delivered one of the most revolutionary messages ever-FOLLOW ME! These two words have changed the world! What this meant was, "You have heard from your upbringing that you must perform in order to be accepted by God and you have certainly fallen short. Now, I want to dramatically shift gears. I want you to know that I accept you just as you are and you are welcome into my Kingdom. Now, come along and FOLLOW ME."

NOTE that Matthew was so thrilled to be chosen by a respected rabbi and especially this unique teacher named Jesus. This is why he immediately responded to Jesus. And, this is why he immediately threw a party. He wanted to show off this new rabbi and the fact that he was going to be following in His steps. This was something that would make his mother proud.

Jesus was making a greater point here...that God was primarily looking for the sick people, the losers, the down and out, and Jesus' focus was not on the "righteous" but on the sinners. This is still the revolutionary message of Jesus. All of the religions have set up a system of do's and don'ts to be followed in order to be accepted and welcomed by God. Jesus says, "I accept you, so now come and follow me." "All who are weary and heavy-laden, come to me and I will give you rest."

Again, this reminds me of this comparison. All religions say, "Do, Do, Do. Do more. Do better." But Jesus says, "It's already done, now come along and follow me." So, where do you fit on this spectrum? Are you still exhausting yourself with all of your performance of "do, do, do?" Or are you discovering that Jesus' call on your life is the call to rest?

The unknown God is knowable and He requires the following. 1. That you are sick. 2. That you are interested. 3. That you understand His great love and acceptance of you.

I love this story. "Matthew, I accept you and welcome you into the Kingdom. Do you want to come along and follow me?" This is the same call Jesus is making on your life. Now, will you come along and follow Him, too?

THE UNKNOWN GOD-PART IV

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We keep using WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) and that is a most helpful measuring stick for living our lives more effectively. However, WDJD? (What Did Jesus Do?) may be even more helpful in understanding what Jesus' intent is for our lives. My good friend always says, "Watch what Jesus did and said and do the same!" I want to walk through 3 scenes in the life of Jesus where people from a non-Jewish background came to faith in Him.

I've come to realize that it's possible for a person to be a Catholic and be a follower of Jesus and still be a Catholic. A Mormon can be a follower of Jesus and still remain in his Mormon culture. A Muslim can be a follower of Jesus, a Buddhist, a Hindu can all be followers of Jesus and still remain within their cultural backgrounds. I want to now show you how biblical this is.

FIRST-When Jesus was in Cana of Galilee, He was confronted by a royal official who needed Jesus to heal his son. Jesus told him that his son would live. What's interesting is that this royal official believed that Jesus was the only way, the only hope for his son to be healed. It's important to note that this royal official was probably a Roman citizen with the cultural background of seeking many gods and signs from them. Jesus didn't tell this man to make sure to repent and go renounce the many Roman deities or his faith would be for naught. Why not? Because the most important issue here is that this man and his family would come to simple faith in Jesus. After this expression of faith, this man was a Roman who believed in Jesus.

SECOND-When Jesus conversed with the Samaritan woman, He didn't make certain to warn her of her false beliefs and be sure to change the mountain where she worshipped. There was no renunciation of her false doctrines. Why not? Because Jesus was reaching out to her to bring her to faith. She is still known as the Samaritan woman who believed in Jesus and told her entire village about her encounter with Jesus. This, too, resulted in many more Samaritan followers of Jesus.

THIRD-When the God-fearing Greeks were encountered, they were not taken to this point of renouncing their deities to express faith in Jesus. The Syrophoenecian woman is a perfect example, a gentile and from a godless cultural background. What's happening here? She comes to faith in this most attractive Jesus. She is now a Syrophoenecian who was a follower of Jesus.

I'm reminded of one more incident, not in the life of Jesus, but in the Acts of Jesus. When the Ethiopian eunuch was approached by Philip, sent by God to do so for this Divine appointment, why doesn't Philip bring up the renunciation of his Ethiopian culture? They had already built many temples to some gods back then, so why not a call for renunciation of these gods; especially before baptizing this eunuch, making him feel he was now OK and a follower of Jesus. So we have here the Ethiopian official who was a follower of Jesus.

You see, it's very possible for people to come to know God without losing their cultural backgrounds in the process. The early disciples grew up in Judaism with all of its add-ons, yet they were attracted enough to Jesus to follow Him and His teachings. Were the disciples of Jesus believers? Were they born again? The answer, if you are honest with what we know, is no. They weren't believers until after the resurrection. And, they weren't "technically" born-again until Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon them. Now that was pure, unadulterated discipleship with a group of men who were interested in Jesus enough to follow Him and learn His teachings and principles. This is precisely what we are experiencing among Buddhists, Hindu, Muslim and Jews! We are starting with those who are "interested" in Jesus enough to follow Him and learn His teachings and principles. As they walk this path, the Spirit gets hold of their hearts and transforms them. That's the way it should be! Discipleship is not Christianizing people or worse yet, Americanizing them, but introducing them to Jesus.

Introduce people to Jesus and wonderful things happen. It's still happening today! Maybe instead of WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) or WDJD? (What Did Jesus Do?), we ought to think in terms of WIJD?-What Is Jesus Doing? Remember, see what Jesus is doing and get there as quickly as possible!

THE UNKNOWN GOD-PART III

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To continue examining the UNKNOWN GOD motif, I want to walk through an amazing event that happened to Peter. Remember, Peter was probably the leader of the early disciples while hanging out with Jesus. Many believe most of the disciples were in their late teens while Peter was most likely in his early twenties. After all Peter had experienced with Jesus, he was sold out to Him as the Jewish Messiah. You might say he was a very religious follower of Jesus. Now, with this in mind, note what happens.

Acts 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea."

NOW note what happens on Peter's end of things. 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. 17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." 21 Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" 22 The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only human myself."

27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with Gentiles or visit them. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?"

Cornelius told Peter what had happened to him, being visited by an angel. 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

34 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts those from every nation who fear him and do what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached- 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. 39 "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen-by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

It's interesting to me that AFTER Peter comes to realize that God shows no favoritism, but accepts those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. THEN Peter shifts into a very relevant gear. He moves into sharing his experience, strength and hope in Jesus. Then NOTE that Peter begins closing his remarks with "All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name."

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 "Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

OK, do you get what's happening here? Cornelius and his family were Romans. The Roman culture was filled with a mixture of gods and goddesses, many overlapping with the Greek culture. They had a wide spectrum of festivals and feasts as well as a great interest in the occult world, depending upon good or bad omens. Now, here we find a Roman family who is said to be God-fearing and those who earnestly and frequently prayed. Peter was forced to drop his religious add-ons and to go against the commands within his religious system in order for God to get to these foreigners.

NOTE 3 observations: 1. God's man needed for this mission had to step outside his religious and cultural box. Peter was not to "convert" this Roman family into Judaism.

2. God accepts those from every nation who fear or reverence Him and do what is right. This is an amazing statement of what is necessary for God's acceptance.

3. Peter shares that everyone who believes in Him (Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness is for everyone who believes Jesus. This is Jesus Plus Nothing at its best!

Every story like this I read really perks me up to the amazing grace of God. It's too bad that Christians don't embrace this understanding more. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.