Sunday, January 26 2025, Fully Equipped and Fruitful John 15 8-16
Notes
Transcript
BIG IDEA: Jesus modeled how to fully equip disciplemakers to make other disciplemakers.
Introduction
Introduction
The competition between evangelism and discipleship.
Many see one over the other.
I will readily admit that I much prefer the ministry of discipleship…because I am intimidated by the idea of evangelism.
It stirs up pictures of men standing in the public square, boldly proclaiming the gospel to unbelieving throngs. Calling them to repentance. Making a defense against the attacks of the crowd.
Yet Jesus does not see this dichotomy.
Evangelism and discipleship aren’t competing ministries, but complimentary parts of one ministry…making disciples.
Without evangelism, who will you disciple?
Without discipleship, from where will the evangelists come?
Rather, we are to be prepared for ministry, to do the work of making disciples that make disciples.
Luke 6:40 tell us that, “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.”
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
The Greek word is Katartizo – Fully trained; equipped
Spiritual Parenthood
Spiritual Parenthood
Parents understand the road to maturity; they walked it themselves.
They have (in most cases) successfully moved into maturity; they know what success looks like.
So, they are now ready to raise up spiritual children.
Parents pour into their children to ready them for the road ahead.
In the same way, these Chair 4 disciple makers pour into growing disciples to make them ready to become disciple makers themselves.
John records some of the final words of Jesus to his disciples as he ushers them into this new stage.
It illustrates another change.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Jesus has made everything He recieved available to us, and has called us His friends.
From Servants to Friends
From Servants to Friends
Friendship indicates a deeper relationship than that of discipleship.
A deeper affection
A deeper intimacy
A greater freedom
A greater security
Friendship with God is important because it marks the end of striving to be worthy of God’s acceptance and love.
Friends of God recognize that they are beloved apart from works of righteousness.
As friends of God, we recognize that our relationship is not about us but about what He has done for us.
Hannah and I have been blessed by a pair of friends that we have had since college. This is even sweeter because those two friends of ours are married to each other.
We’ve been through a lot together; triumph and tragedy. Making it through the other side of trial has established our friendship as firm as bedrock.
Years and life have taken us far away from each other. They live in Sacramento, California and three hours difference in time zone, which makes talking much harder. They have 5 young children, and we have 4. We are both in vocational ministry, which occupies a lot of our time.
Nevertheless, whenever we do get the chance to talk, it’s like we’d never been separate a moment. We pick up right where we left off. We don’t need to prove anything to one another. We simply enjoy being together.
Friendship with the Lord is like that.
No longer am I trying to prove myself.
I am established before God because of the cross.
I can just enjoy him because He loves me.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
This deepened relationship is marked by our priorities and passions being in step with Jesus.
Out of this reflected love, we are now ready to multiply ourselves.
Jesus did not leave us to figure this out ourselves, but even in this, he modeled how to make disciple makers.
Jesus’ Process Modeled
Jesus’ Process Modeled
Luke 10 will serve for us today as an example of what it looked like for Jesus to make disciple makers.
But first, let us consider our context.
Jesus has been ministering for over 3 years, and is now coming to the end of His earthly ministry.
He has set his face towards Jerusalem and is on his way to the cross.
Jesus sent the disciples He had made to make more disciples
Jesus sent the disciples He had made to make more disciples
6 months previous, Jesus had sent out the 12 to proclaim the good news.
They had returned with a good report.
Now, he is sending out a multiplied group of 72 disciples.
A sixfold increase in a mere six months!
Multiplication will be an important word to remember as we go through this stage of discipleship.
These two groups make it clear that Jesus intends discipleship to be a process of being sent out to reproduce ourselves.
The process is characterized by joy
The process is characterized by joy
The 72 returned from their mission with a similar report as the 12 apostles.
Their experience of God working through them produced great joy in them.
We see the process of discipleship exemplified here as these 72 move from chair 3 to chair 4, disciple makers.
We see as well that Jesus is full of joy in Luke 10:21
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Jesus is so happy at this moment because God has granted it to him to see the fruits of His earthly ministry.
His obedience to the Father’s will is being rewarded.
His disciples, whom he has poured into so faithfully, are now ready to take up the work of disciplemaking themeslves.
Perhaps he is seeing the eternal consequences, that you and I would be here 2000 years later carrying on this work.
This highlights something important about Jesus’s mission while he was on earth.
Jesus’ mission was clearly not to reach the world but to make disciples who could reach the world
Jesus’ mission was clearly not to reach the world but to make disciples who could reach the world
Jesus’s mission was to exemplify the disciple making work as it was to be characterized by those who would follow him.
Remember, Jesus’s incarnation means that while He is the eternal Creator God, He submitted to His Father’s will and emptied Himself to live a faithful life of obedience.
To model a pattern of life and ministry that would be imitated by all who came afterward.
Jesus authored and employed the principle that the few become many
Jesus authored and employed the principle that the few become many
We see this exercised by Him in the lives of his chosen disciples throughout his years with them. In word and deed.
When they were curious seekers:
39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
He moved them on from their to call them to follow him and become acquainted with Him:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
As He poured into them, He called them to step out of their comfort zones and become coworkers with Him in His ministry.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Finally, he sent them out fully equipped for the work and given the work of becoming disciple makers themselves. Laborers sent out to work the harvest.
2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
After His resurrection, He commissioned them to carry on the work He had prepared for them in the Great Commission. A continual work that encompasses the entire world.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The disciples were obedient to this task Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In Jerusalem Acts 2:5
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
Judea and Samaria Acts 8:5
5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
After Acts 8:26 to the rest of the earth.
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.
Jesus was faithful in modeling the process of making disciple makers.
We are the testimony of that faithfulness.
Because the work has been passed on through the millenia.
Now it has come down to us in 2025 in Spring Lake, Michigan.
And there is more work to be done.
The needs of “Friends of God”
The needs of “Friends of God”
Just because they have reached spiritual maturity does not mean that they are not in need of support.
All ministry is meant to be done within the context of the church.
Disciple-makers need to be equipped and empowered for unique ministry
Disciple-makers need to be equipped and empowered for unique ministry
Chair 4 disciple makers are characterized by their passion.
Often a single-minded focus on a specific area of ministry.
God has uniquely created us, even in our new lives in Christ.
The Pharisee Saul was uniquely prepared to become Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. His passion for the gospel drove him to proclaim in to the very ends of the known world.
We must come alongside those among us who have a passion to reach the lost and make disciples.
They need support and encouragement from us, for we are God’s provision for them.
Disciple-makers need to experience the power of a movement of multiplication
Disciple-makers need to experience the power of a movement of multiplication
The 72 needed to experience the joy that comes from seeing others become disciples and begin to grow in spiritual maturity.
Chair 4 disciple makers also need to experience that process.
To see unbelievers become followers, then workers, and then finally, disciple makers.
It gives an important understanding of what makes a ministry endeavor valuable.
Disciple-makers need to know how to defend themselves
Disciple-makers need to know how to defend themselves
There will be attacks on those who seek to be obedient to God’s call to make disciples.
These attacks will come from within and from outside the church.
Satan’s work is always to distract or discourage those in the church from being effective.
Reaching the lost
Training new disciples
Being active in ministry
Inside the church, such attacks generally come in the form of opposition from the traditional church system.
What I mean by that is the kinds of churches that are only interested in perpetuating their traditional structure.
The ideal of new members are not disciple makers, but converts to their tradition.
Passionate chair 4 disciple makers will chafe under such systems because their goal is not perpetuating a tradition, but obedience to the Great Commission.
They just want to reach the lost and raise up new disciples.
Disciple-makers often need help
Disciple-makers often need help
Defining their mission.
Defining their mission.
Effective minsitries are focused ministries.
They want to do a few things, the most important things, very well.
Passionate desire to be obedient can have the unfortunate result of becoming distracted by urgent things that are not ultimate things.
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha became lost in her busy attempts to honor Jesus with much work, and lost out on the more important issue of knowing Jesus.
Clarifying their ministry values
Clarifying their ministry values
Equally dangerous is the threat of working at crossed purposes.
We can undermine our mission by not prioritizing values.
Imagine that you have been given the task of cleaning an old house. One person starts vacuuming and another starts dusting…they need to prioritize which is more important.
In Christian life, we are required to love our neighbor and we are also called to call them to repent of their sin. Which has priority? Paul would say that speaking the truth must be done with love. Love for the lost must characterize how we call them to repentance.
Chair 4 disciple makers must set clear priorities about how they will go about their ministries.
establishing faith and work goals
establishing faith and work goals
Think of the ancient Israelites wandering in the desert. Their goal was the Promised Land, yet they often got sidetracked by complaints and fears. However, God was always redirecting them to focus on His promise. Just as they kept moving forward, despite the distractions, we too must remember to keep our eyes on the ultimate prize—our spiritual journey toward heaven.
If we lose sight of our goals, we may become distracted away from the ministry that God has prepared for us.
an effective plan.
an effective plan.
15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.
16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.
17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.
20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
Paul was prevented from coming to Corinth to address the issue of super apostles.
He came to see the wisdom in this, recognizing that the Holy Spirit did not wish for Paul to become embroiled in such a controversy personally.
23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.
24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.
4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
So, what shall we say about how to best serve the needs of those among us who are laboring in raising up disciple makers?
Principles for ministry to people in Chair 4
Principles for ministry to people in Chair 4
I want to make clear, this isn’t limited within the church to the pastors, elders, deacons, etc.
All mature believers are disciple makers.
Our goal is multiplication
Our goal is multiplication
Ultimately we want those we disciple to go and bear fruit, making disciples who will make more disciples.
We need to get over the idea that numerical growth is the goal.
This has become the driving force of much of the modern church growth movement.
Adding weekend attenders, membership rolls, baptisms, programs, ministries.
I would not be surprised if many Christians would look at these as metrics of success.
Jesus’s desire is for us is made perfectly clear in John 15:8
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Bearing fruit means that we value numerical depth.
This means multiplication, not addition.
That we would see a greater proportion of our membership becoming growing and fruit-bearing disciples.
Jared C. Wilson, a baptist pastor and professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote a book about this called The Gospel Driven Church.
He lays out 5 metrics of grace by which we may better discern how healthy a church is
A growing esteem for Christ
A discernable spirit of repentance
A dogged devotion to the Word of God
An interest in theology and doctrine
An evident love for God and neighbor
If these qualities are present in our church, we will see that multiplication.
We will prioritize that which is important to Jesus.
Reaching the lost
Helping new believers to grow
Equipping them for ministry
Sending them out to make more disciples
Chair 4 people may look like the enemy –
Chair 4 people may look like the enemy –
Often, chair 4 people are viewed as “competition” by the traditional church.
Their restlessness and passion for ministry will see them consistently press against boundaries.
But we must resist the urge to see them as a competitor to the church’s ministry.
We mustn’t quench their passion for ministry just to make them fit within our vision for proper church ministry.
Rather, we should busy ourselves looking for ways to give support to their passion.
Helping them to be more effective.
Rejoicing in their successes
Encouraging them in their struggles.
I think we would all wish that people would be excited about what we are passionate about.
This leads to the final point.
Chair 4 people may look very different from each other.
Chair 4 people may look very different from each other.
In His wisdom God has gifted and called individuals in a variety of ways that complement each other.
Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
We must recognized the various ways in which God equipped this church through its membership.
The promise that we have from the Lord is that he has given us all we need to be successful in reaching this community.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
What a testimony it would be if we were a church that is known for a multiplicity of disciples who are passionately raising up more disciple makers.
We have everything we need to accomplish this work.
Will we commit ourselves to it?
