Preparation - The Priorities of Disciplemaking

Lord, we are so, so bless to have the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, as our friend. We realize, Lord, that you no longer call us slaves or servants, but you call us your friends. We thank you for the intimate relationship that we can have with you because of what you have done at Calvary. And we pray, Lord, that. That relationship would be of such significance that we would be able to tell other people how valuable it is, that they in turn would see. Our relationship with the living God and want to have that same kind of relationship.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3. And tucked away in this chapter are two verses that we will use as a springboard for our discussion this evening. About the preparation in disciple making, which, by the way, is the priority in disciple making. It was Sir Thomas Smith, who was the secretary to Queen Elizabeth, who some months before his death said, It was a great pity men knew not to what end they were born into this world until They were ready to go out of it.

And that's true. Most of us have no idea why we are here. And at the very end of our lives, there comes this understanding or some comprehension of the fact that you know what, we are here for a purpose, and either I fulfilled that purpose or I didn't fulfill that purpose. Some time ago, before I took a couple of weeks' vacation, one of the ladies in our church came to see me. She called me on the phone. She says, Lance, I want to come see you. I said, Sure, what do you want to talk about? She goes, Well, I want to talk to you about my funeral.

I said, are you dying? She says, no, but I'm going to die, and I want to prepare my funeral. I said, great, come on over. And so she came over the very next day. We sat down, had a good discussion about what she would like to see happen at her memorial service. And I was encouraged. I was really encouraged to listen to this woman speak. And as we were talking together. She said, You know, I know why God saved my soul, and I know why I'm here and what I'm supposed to be doing. She goes, I have, as a passion, to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

That's Colossians 1:2 and 29. If you were with us last time, you know that that is the purpose of disciple-making. There needs to be a maturation of people's lives, a growth in people's lives. That somehow every man, every woman, every boy, every girl would. Become complete in Jesus Christ, grow up in their understanding of who God is. She said, This was her passion, and this is what she lived her life to accomplish. And because I know her very well, that's exactly what she does. She meets with a group of women, six of them, every Thursday morning.

She prays with them, she disciples them, she nurtures them, she grows them, she calls them throughout the week, she prays with them. She has a family that's committed to the Lord. She has a daughter and son-in-law who are missionaries overseas, and God has used her in a tremendous way. Tremendous way to lead not only her family to the Lord, but other people as well. But one thing about this woman. Was not that she was only prepared to die, but she was prepared to live as God wanted her to live. I want you to be prepared for that.

That is, I want you to be prepared to live as God wants you to live. And so, as we move through our discussion of disciple-making, we've already looked at the. Prerequisite to disciple-making, and that was that God has authorized us to do this great and wonderful ministry. And we move from the prerequisite to the purpose, and that is that we might present every man complete in Christ. And now we're looking at the preparation of disciple-making, because something needs to happen in my life, and this ties right in.

To some degree, with what we talked about on Sunday morning, about the preparation for worship. But as we look at Mark 3, verses 13 and 14, you're going to see Five basic principles that will help you understand what God wants you to do as you prepare to invest your life into the life of someone else, as you prepare to do what God has called you to do.

As you understand God's call upon your life, God has called every one of us to go into all the world and make disciples. None of us. Are excluded from that. There is no exclusion clause there. Say, well, if you're this age, you can't do it. If you have this disease, you can't do it. If you got this problem, you can't do it. No, there's no exclusion clause. We're all included in that. All of us are to be disciple makers. And so in Mark 3:1 and 14, we understand through different phrases that our Lord uses what it means to prepare.

To do the job God's called us to do. Mark 3, verse number 13. And he went up to the mountain and summoned those whom he him wanted. And they came to him, and he appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out. To preach. Principle number one is this: there needs to be a useful consecration.

A use consecration. It says, and he went up. To the mountain. Now, just stop right there for a moment. And he went up to the mountain. Luke's commentary on this says that he was there all night. All night. Mark 1:3 tells us: after the busiest day recorded in the Bible. Of the life of Jesus tells us in Mark 1:3 that Jesus escaped into solitude. It says, and in the early morning, While it was still dark, he arose and went out and departed to a lonely place and was praying there. Now, you have to understand that of all the things that happened in that day, the busiest part of that day is when it was verse number 32, and it says, And when evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed and the whole city had gathered at the door and he healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons and he was not permitting the demons to speak Because they knew who he was.

Now, understand that. Understand the context. So now, early the next morning, what's he do? He gets up. What are we going to do? We're going to sleep in. We spent the whole night in ministry. Boy, we're tired, man. We got to sleep in in the morning. Tell the kids not to wake me up. Unhook the phone. I don't want anybody calling me. I got to rest tomorrow morning. But what does Jesus do? He gets up and goes to a lonely place. And he goes to pray. That's important. Why? Because if we don't follow Christ's example to come apart, And rush the while.

We will indeed ultimately just simply come apart. There need to be a consecration. That is, a time where I set aside. For me and my God. This is the importance of the consecration. You can read about it over in the Gospel of Luke. It says over in Luke chapter 4, verse number 42, And when day came, he departed and went to a lonely place. Luke 5, verse number 16. But he himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. Luke chapter 6, verse number 12. And it was at this time that he went off.

To the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer. Luke chapter 9, verse number 10, records it this way when it says, And he withdrew by him to a city called Bes. Then again, in verse number 29, 28, and some eight days after these sayings, it came about that he took along Peter. And John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. So there he would take a couple of his men with him. But I want you to notice something.

Very important that the number one dis practiced by Jesus in his humanity was the discipline of solitude.

The discipline of being alone. The discipline of getting away. The discipline of taking time out to commun with his Heavenly Father. That's important. Because if the Son of Man needed time alone, how much more do we need time al? You will understand that Jesus had three years of ministry, and yet he always found time to get away and be alone. If you knew you only had three years of ministry, what would you do? If I knew I had only three more years to live, what would I say? What would I do? I'd probably have church every night of the week.

Trying to get as many people as I could here to hear the gospel and to tell you as much as I possibly could tell you before I died. But Jesus, you never read about a rushed Jesus in the Bible. He's never in a hurry. He's never anxious. And that's because he understood the importance of consecration, getting alone. With his heavenly father, to commune with his father who is in heaven. You see, he needed that. Not only did he need it, he wanted that. You see, our problem is we don't really care if we have it or don't have it.

But he wanted it because he knew that that was a stabilizing factor for him. And so, if we're going to be like Jesus, we've got to live lives where we escape into solitude, where we have a place in my house, in my yard. A time during the day where I am alone, just me and my God, in order for me to prepare to do what God's called me to do. Second thing I want you to see is the ingredients to this consecration.

There are three of them. When you get along with God, the number one needs to be the stillness of the soul.

A still of the soul. Psalm 46:10 says, Be still and know that I am God. still of the soul. You know, it's hard to reach a culture that's used to frozen dinners and condensed novels and 30-minute sitcoms where every problem in the family is solved in twenty Six minutes. You know, it's just hard to reach that kind of culture and say, look, you need to spend time alone and be still with your God. And understand who your God is. The Bible says in Isaiah 30, verse number 15: in quietness and trust is your strength.

But you were unwilling. In quietness and in trust is your strength. Psalm 6, verse number 5: My soul waits in silence. for God only, for my hope is from Him. You see, we we expect to dash into the presence of God and choke down intimacy with Him And then hurry off to do whatever it is we're going to do. Just can't do that. There needs to be a stillness. Of the soul. In Mark alone, there are 11 occasions where Jesus retired in order to be alone. That is very significant because the book of Mark presents Christ as the servant, and the servant is always busy.

Mark also has the characteristic of talking about the hands of Jesus. Unlike Matthew, Luke, or John, Mark talks about the hands of the servant. He talks about the feet of the servant. He talks about the work of the servant because He's presented as a servant. So Mark emphasizes those things, but he also emphasizes the fact that he would retire and get away. That's important because if Mark is going to emphasize the busy of the servant, he also emphasized the fact that no matter how busy he was doing the work that his father had called him to do, he was never too busy.

To retire into solitude to spend time with his father. You know the song? Take time to be holy. The world rushes on. Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone. By looking to Jesus like him, thou shalt be thy friends in thy conduct, his likeness. Shall see. Most of us don't spend time with Jesus. We're just in such a hurry. To do the next thing that usually doesn't make any difference whatsoever for the sake of eternity. Am I right? Absolutely. If we could just learn to spend some time with God, there needs to be a still of the soul.

Number two, a separation from sin, and number three, a saturation in the scriptures. If I don't hurry through this, I'm not going to get it done. And Tate Ministry will shoot me for making this two parts instead of one. But you need to understand there needs to be a. A separation from our sin. When you get away from yourself, and there's the stillness of the soul. What you find is that there also needs to be a separation from my sin, where I confess my sin, I go before my God. We talked about it on Sunday morning, Hebrews 12, about how we are to lay aside every sin.

Every sin. You know, in the context of Hebrews 12, the sin there is unbelief. You know that, don't you? Every sin. The context of Hebrews 12 speaks about the sin of unbelief. And a lot of us, in our disciple-making process, in investing our lives in other people, have a lot of unbelief going on. You know, I need to believe that God is going to do a work in those people that I am investing my life in. And I need to believe that God's Word is not going to return void. You see, this is so important.

Why? Because, as Irma was sharing this evening concerning her husband, she has an unsaved husband. Many of you have unsaved spouses or unsaved family members. You got to realize that but what we need to do is separate ourselves from the sin of unbelief. That is, of not believing that God is going to do what He says He's going to do in His Word. That His Word really is powerful, sharper than any Two-edged sword, and when his word goes forth, it speaks volumes, even to the unconverted. And God will use his word in a powerful way.

And so, you know, we go out and we'll share Christ with somebody, we'll talk to somebody about the Lord, and then they don't respond. So we just give up. Don't talk to them anymore about it. Or we get quieter or clam up. And yet, we need to believe that what God says in His Word is true.

And so, when we talk about the separation from sin, sure, we're talking about those personal sins that keep me from being all that God wants me to be. But understand this: in the disciple-making process, when you invest into your children, when you invest into your spouse, when you invest into people at church, when you invest in people at the workplace, you got to realize it's going to take a long time. And yet you've got to be faithful to do what God's called you to do and believe that His word is true and will make a powerful impact in the lives of people.

Separation from sin, still of the soul, and saturation in the scriptures. We must be saturated with the Word of God. That 's why there's the time alone, that useful consecration, where I put myself Alone with God, that I might be saturated in the Word of God. This woman I talked to about her funeral. She reads, are you ready for this? 2 chapters a day. She 's very methodical. She reads one chapter. In the Pentateuch, one chapter for the major prophets, one of the minor prophets, one of the historical books, one in Proverbs, five Psalms, one of the Gospels.

One of the Pauline epistles, one of the non-Pauline epistles, and one chapter in the book of Acts. Once in the morning, once at night. I said, man, that's a lot of reading. Why do you do that? She said, my life verse is John 15:7, which says, if you abide in me. And my words abide in you. You will ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. She goes, I want the word of God to abide in me. I want to know what God's word says so that when I pray to him and talk to him, I know his will. Well, how else you're going know his will?

Unless you know his word, right? And so as I sat talking with this woman, I was so encouraged to hear about what she does every single day. Because she wanted to saturate herself in the scriptures. The Bible says in Hebrews 12 that we are to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, considering him.

The word consider is a mathematical term that means to calculate. We need to spend time calculating Jesus, His person, His passion, His work. Who He is, that takes time. And that's why there needs to be a useful consecration. The text says in Mark 3 that Jesus Himself. Would take time out to go up into the mountain. And Luke says he was there all night. Why? Because he had a mission, he had a purpose in life. He had three years. In three years, he had a ministry that had to affect the entire world.

And when it was all said and done, he had about 620 people who followed him. 120 in the upper room, and about 500 other nond disciples, as the Gospels explain them to us. Three years of ministry, 620 people. Not very many people. But that wasn't his emphasis. His emphasis was in the twelve men. Twelve men. And that was his purpose. And that's how he knew he would best reach the world with the gospel. Number two, need inter.

Number one, a useful consecration. That is. There's a time I set aside, I get away. It becomes a very useful time for me, a very profitable time for me. Why? Because in that time, there is the stillness of my soul where I quiet myself from the hustle and bustle of the world, where I Saturate myself in the scriptures, and where I separate myself from those sins that so easily keep me from being all that God wants me to be. We're see number two, a needful intercession.

Luke 's account says that he went up into the mountain, he was there all night, and he prayed all night. He prayed all night. Two things I want you to notice about the need for intercession.

Number one, the duration, and number two, the duty/slash desire. First of all, the duration. All night he was there in prayer. You see, his decision. About who he would choose would ultimately affect the entire world. And he prayed not because he had to. But because he wanted to commune with his father, Elton Trueblood said it this way: the man who supposes that he has no time to pray or to reflect. Because the social tasks are numerous and urgent, he will soon find that he has become fundamentally unproductive because he will have separated his life from its ro.

He's right. You see, if we find ourselves so busy that we have no time to pray, we find ourselves extremely unproductive for the kingdom of God. Because you see, the kingdom of God and its purposes are accomplished through spiritual means, and spiritual means are accomplished through spiritual ends. Or spiritual ent comes through spiritual means, and that happens when we drop to our knees and commune with our God and give the work to God, give the people to God. And that's what our Lord was doing.

Well, see number two, the duty/slash desire. Because it is a duty. The Bible says that men ought always to pray and not to faint, Luke 18:1.

The Bible says that we are to pray without ceasing. Colossians 4 says we need to be devoted to prayer. You see, that's the duty of the Christian. He needs to pray, but you will find that the more you fulfill the duty, the greater the desire becomes. Same way we talked about on Sunday morning. The greater you discipline your life, the more the desire comes because it follows on the heels of the discipline. And we need to be fulfilling that which is important. And that is praying about everything. And Jesus would do that.

One author said it this way. He said, and I quote, as we scramble to achieve an enviable image to display to others. We become outward people obsessed with how we appear rather than inward people reflecting on the meaning of our lives. We define ourselves by what we do rather than by any quality of what we are inside. Since prayer belongs to the relational side of human life, that is, to who I am rather than to what I do, it is inevitable that prayer will have a very low priority at the very best for people who live busy lives.

None of us is too busy for the things that we regard as priorities. If prayer is a priority, you'll never be too busy to pray. If prayer is not a priority, you're always too busy to pray. A useful consecration, a need intercession, and thirdly, a careful Selection.

Back to Mark chapter 3. And he went up to the mountain and summoned those whom he him want. He summoned those whom he him wanted in order to prepare for the ministry that God's entrusted to you. You can't wait till the end of. This series to begin to pray about who you will invest your life into. You need to begin praying now.

Lord, who is it? What one person, what group of people do I invest my life into, Lord? You show them to me. You give them to me. You make them known to me that I might be able to be effective in their lives for the sake of the kingdom of God. G. Kim O'Morgan said it this way: He said, the word suggests. Self-determining sovereignty, choice based upon reason with personality. God was entirely uninfluenced by temporary appeals. No appeal that any man might have made to him would have influenced him in the least.

No protests of inability that any man might have suggested would have changed his purpose. His choosing was choosing from within, the choosing of his own sovereignty, a choosing therefore in which he assumed all responsibility for what he did. You will note, God chose men. To accomplish his purposes. It's not about methods, it's about men. It's not about the kind of ministry, it's about the men who lead the ministry. And God knows that. You've got to choose the right men to lead, the right women to lead, the right individual to accomplish the purpose.

You know, in our society, we have to qualify for everything. You want a credit card? You got to qualify. You want to buy a house? You got to qualify. You want to buy a car You got to qualify. Everything's about qualifying. And if you don't qualify, sorry. Can't buy it, can't have it. But in God's God's kingdom, nobody's qualified. You can't qualify. You can't do anything to qualify for God's ministry because all of you are unqualified, just like I'm unqualified. It's God who qualifies you. It's God who makes you of any quality whatsoever, right?

So we've got to realize that when God was choosing these people, listen, He would choose the unqualified to accomplish. His purpose. Think about the people he chose. Think about it. I wish we had time to go through the scenario of the disciples with the Lord Jesus. I mean, these men were low, low, low in commitment. They were low in commitment. Peter would ultimately deny him. Every one of them deserted him. You can read about it in Mark chapter 14. They had little faith. Over and over again, Jesus would say, Oh, ye men of little faith.

Little faith. They had lots of pride. All they would talk about was who was the greatest in the kingdom, how they would have a seat on the right hand of God and on the left hand of God, and how wonderful they were. All they could think about was themselves. And these are the people God chose to change the world. These people lacked all kinds of spiritual power. They wouldn't even know how to cast demons out of those who were demon possessed. And they would have to come to Christ and say, Lord, how come when you came off the mountain, you could do it, but we couldn't.

And you gave us the power to do it, you gave us the authority to do it, and we were unable to do it. They lacked spiritual power. They had lots of pride. They had little faith. They were low in commitment. And God says, you guys.

Are you going to change the world? You guys are going to be the ones I'm going to invest my life in. You guys will be used in a mighty way. You see, God uses the unqualified to accomplish His great objective. You see, that's why when you look for people who want to minister in the church, you don't look for people who think they can lead. You look for people who know they can't lead because those are the people God can use, those are the people God wants to use. People come to you and say, Well, you, I can do this and I can do that, and I've been here, and I did this in my last church, and I did that at that church, and I did that over here in this ministry.

I can do You gotta be lyric people. Because they are self-sufficient people. And God needs people who are dependent upon Him to accomplish His purposes. And these men were the ones whom the Bible says turned the world upside down.

When you begin to make a careful selection, you look for four qualities in people you want to disciple. Number one is availability.

Availability. Are they available to do the ministry that God has called them to do? You will note, if you go back to Mark chapter 1. You will notice something very interesting.

It says in verse number 16: And as he was going along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And they immediately left the nets and followed him. And going on a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother who were also in the boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went away.

To follow him. These men were willing to break loose from their future. They were willing to break loose from their job. They were willing to break loose from that which gave them security to follow one. They had no idea what they were going to do. But Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you into something. Something you could not do without me. And the Bible says immediately they left.

They left their father, they left their future, they left their families. They were available. They wanted to be used. You know, so many times you talk to people and say, you know, would you like to be involved in this ministry? Well, you know, I don't know. Well, what do you want to do? Well, I don't know what I want to do. Well, what has God called you to do? Well, I don know what God's called me to do. You won't, Well, is there anything you do know? Is there anything you do know about the ministry?

You see, you know, we need people who are available. I'll do that. Sure, let me do that. If you need somebody, I'm there. And I can name a slew of people in our church who have that kind of mentality. They're just available. You call them up, yep, you can count on them. They'll be there. They are available. And number two characteristic is.

Flexible availability and flexibility. You see, I want to tell you something about the ministry. It is so diff that if you're not bendable, if you're not flexible, you're going to break. You're going to break. I mean, nothing happens the way you expect it to happen. It just never does. The church is run by a whole bunch of volunteers that you can't fire. And so you have to encourage them. You've got to motivate them. And sometimes they're there on time, and sometimes they're not there on time. You know?

And so, what do you do? You've got to be flexible. That doesn't mean you don't hold people accountable because you do, but when you're looking for people, you're looking for those who can flex. Why? Jesus was going along one day and someone said, I'll follow you, Lord, wherever you go. And Jesus said, foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Now, when you think about that, think of the flexibility of that ministry. Where are you going to sleep? Where's your home?

Might not have one. See? And in Luke chapter 9, as Christ interacts with these people about who want to follow him, and others said, I'll follow you. I'll follow you wherever you go. But first, first, let me go back and get things in order in my family.

And Jesus said, No man, having put hand to the prow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. You've got to be flexible. And these men have been involved in a tradition of religiosity all their lives. And they had to break out of that tradition and follow the one who is the truth. And boy, that was a big break for them because they would go against the religious establishment of the day. And you know in the ministry, you got to have people that can flex, that are not so stringent. Very important.

Availability, flexibility. Number three, teachability. Teachability. Luke 11:1, the disciples came and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Only thing they ever asked Jesus to teach them specifically, Lord, teach us how to pray. They never, Lord, teach us how to preach. Lord, we want to be preachers like you can preach. Lord, teach us Lord, teach us how to walk on water. Lord, teach us how to heal the sick. Never asked Jesus that. But they did ask him: Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. Now, the disciples were a stubborn bunch.

They were. But they had a teachable spirit. And they were willing to learn, and that's why they would keep coming back to Jesus. Well, Lord, how is it you did this? And why is he did it that way? And how come it's this way? And Lord, tell us when will these things be? And they wanted to know. They never felt like they knew everything. Teachability is very important, isn't it? See, we'll look for somebody who's flexible, available, teachable, and lastly, dependable. Dependable. Somebody you can count on.

I love what it says over in the Gospel of John, sixth chapter. When it records these words, Christ had just given some harsh words to those who would follow him. It says in verse number 66, as a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. Jesus said, therefore, to the twelve, You do not want to go away, also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One.

Of God. These men remain loyal. Yes, they deserted at the end. Yes, they denied at the end. Yes, they were afraid at the end. And yet, God would use them in a tremendous way, tremendous way. They weren't perfect individuals, but for the most part, they were dependable. They were dependable. Sure, they fell asleep when Jesus needed them in the garden, when the eve of the crucifixion. Could you not pray with me just one hour? Couldn't you stay awake for one hour? And they were. They were so tired they just couldn't even stay awake.

But boy, you read about it in the book of Acts: loyal, committ, faithful, dependable men of God. Not only are these the characteristics you're looking for, they're the characteristics you want to end up developing in the lives of these people over a long haul. So you've got to make a careful selection. He chose those whom he him wanted to choose. Which leads me to point number four: there is a meaningful association. A mean association. Verse number 14 says, And he appointed twelve that they might be with him.

That they might be with him. That is an association. That is a meaningful association. You see, he wanted to be with them as well as they wanting to be with. Him. That's important, right? You see, because in the disciple-making process, it is an association more so than anything else. So that your life. And their lives are rubbing together in such a way that the lives become one. And that's the way it was with Jesus and his men. And there was a meaningful association. You see, communion with Christ charges our spiritual lanterns, it kind of turns the light on.

And it accentuates the fact that we need to be with him. You see, he's in us, he makes his abode in us that he might have a relationship with us. And so that relationship is best communicated as I invest my life in the life of someone else who needs to understand this God who dwells in me. See? And so there is a meaningful association in Christ him. As he went on in his ministry, the closer he got to the end of his ministry, the more time he spent with these men, not less time. You see, as he was getting toward the end, as he was setting his face toward Jerusalem, as he knew that he was soon going to die, it wasn't that he had to, you know, get an article on the front page of the Jerusalem Post every day and kind of preach the gospel so everybody in Jerusalem would hear it.

He invested in the lives of his men because they would carry that message on because of his association. With them. Robert Coleman said it this way: they walked together along the lowly roads, they visited together in crowded cities, they sailed and fished together in the Sea of Galilee, they prayed together in the deserts and in the mountains, and they worship together in the synagogue. In the temple. Such close and constant association, of course, meant virtually that Jesus had no time to call his own.

Like little children clamoring for the attention of their father, the disciples were always under foot of the master, but Jesus would have it no other way. He wanted to be with them. They were his spiritual children, and the only way that a father can properly raise a family is to be with them. Jesus knew that. To raise these men, he had to be with them. And so there was a meaningful association. It was an investment of his life into theirs. That they might understand the character of God through his life.

Two things I want you to see. First of all, some examples. And second, some explanation. Who are the examples? Well, you have Paul and Timothy, right? It says over in 1 Timothy 3:14 that he hoped to come to Timothy before long. Throughout the epistles of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, you see this relationship between Paul and Timothy accentuated. He writes to his beloved disciple, he talks to him as if he is his only son. There was a great relationship between Paul and Timothy. Over in 2 Timothy:, he said that he wanted to see Timothy, and when he would, he would be filled with joy.

There is something about seeing Timothy that will cause Paul to have joy in his life. Over in 2 Timothy:, he said, Make every effort to come to me soon. 2 Timothy 4, 21, he says, Come to me before winter. He wanted to be with Timothy. He wanted that association. He wanted that companionship. And Paul, man, he was a type A leader, man. He was a task-oriented man. But you know, he knew the value of a relationship with another man of God, a man they invested in for years, and he wanted to be with Timothy.

Timothy, you come to me. You be with me. And when I see you, I will be filled with joy. Think about it over in Acts chapter 20. If you've got your Bible, just flip back there real quick with me. Acts chapter 20, it speaks of Paul's relationship to the Ephesian elders. Remember, he was with them for three years. And in Acts chapter 20, it says in verse number 36: And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud, and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they should see his face no more.

And they were accompanying him to the ship. Now, can you imagine the scene here? It's the Apostle Paul. He begins this church in Ephesus. He invests his life into the leadership of this church. He teaches them day in and day out. And now God calls him on. It's time for him to move on. And he talks to them about what's going to happen to his life and how he's going to be put in bonds and in chains in Jerusalem. And he knows those things await him, and they don't want him to go, but he feels compelled to go.

Kne with them and pray in prayer, they begin to weep and grieve aloud because they saw the value of an association with a man of God and the input that He had in their lives. You know, that is so important. You would think that all of us would want to have that kind of response from the people we minister to, right? That they wouldn want us to leave. They would beg us to stay. Give us more. And that's the way Paul was. Those are just a couple examples. He was a man of God who invested his life into the people of God and the impact.

It made. You see, we can impress people, right? But just because you impress them doesn't mean you impact them. The only way you can impact an individual is when you're up close to that person so they can actually touch you. Impressions come from a distance. Impact comes only from close association. And if you want to impact somebody, you invest your life into them. Your life becomes their life, their life becomes your life. As you rub together, walking through life. Why is this so important? Back in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, there's a chapter there that kind of talks to us about this, about meaningful relationships and their importance.

It says, Ecclesiastes 4, verse number 9:2 are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together, they keep warm. But how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him, who is alone, two can resist him. The cord of three strands is not quickly torn. Apart. In the ministry of disciple making, two are always better than one because there is mutual success.

Mutual support and mutual strength. There's a good return for their labor. Two are always better than one. There is that mutual support because he can lift up his companion. And they'll be able to keep warm together. It's a phrase used of those who in the Far East would gather together in the huddle together in those cold desert nights in order to keep warm. And there is that mutual support that comes in a disciple-making ministry that is of extreme import. And then there's that mutual strength that two, two can resist, two can stand strong together.

That's why the disciples, by the way, went out two by two, not one by one. They went out in twos, right? Because the Lord knew the principle. They need to support one another. They need to sustain one another. They need to strengthen one another. They need. To be successful, and two are better than one. Alan Haddad in his book Successful Disciple Making said, How are you going to use your time, knowledge, and ability? Will you use it on that which is temporal or that which is eternal? How satisfying it will be when we are close to death to know That we are leaving behind other people who committed to God, His Word, and His people are carrying out the work that we have entrusted to them.

That's good. That's successful disciple-making through a meaningful association. Ian Bounds, in his book Power Through Prayer, said this: We are constantly on a stretch, if not a strain. To devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or the organization. God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else.

Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods, and God is looking for better men. Better men, better women who stand strong, who invest their lives in the lives of others. What is the preparation for disciple making? The preparation is a useful consecration. Time spent alone with God. Developing a relationship with the living God personally between Him and me. There needs to be a needful intercession. Where I go to him and pray and ask, God, Lord, who is it you want me to invest my life in?

Bring them to me. Show me who they are that I might be able to invest into them those things of eternal value. There needs to be a careful selection. Not just choosing anybody, but choosing the ones that God has impress upon your life. People that are available, flexible, teachable, dependable, trainable people. And then comes a meaningful association where I associate my life with theirs. And over the time that we are together, we will see how Paul would do this with those in Thessalonic, how he would invest.

His life into the lives of people. There was more than just an association, there was a meaningful association. And lastly, A purposeful destination, a purposeful destination It says at the end of verse number 14, he did all this that he might send them out to preach. Why did Jesus associate with these men? Why did he spend all night in prayer asking his Heavenly Father who they would be? Why did he associate with him, give his life to them? For one reason, that they might be sent out to pre. That they might make a public proclamation of the truth, that they might be able to communicate to a lost world.

The character and nature of God Almighty, that they might be able to articulate those truths that change an individual's life. That they might be able to preach the word. How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? You see, the ultimate purpose of what it is we do at this church is that somehow we might send you out to preach. That you might be able to present accurately God to a lost world, that you might be able to communicate to your family, that you might be able to.

Communicate to your neighborhood, that you could have the ability to communicate with anybody who comes to you the character and nature of God Almighty, and that your life would not be a contradiction to that message. That's what it's about. It's a purposeful destination. There's a purpose behind all this that you might go out and preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. And number two, produce disciples.

Produce disciples. That you might prod people who have been taught all the things that have been commended by God. Think about it this way. How is our church ever going to grow? Oh, sure, we get people who come because of the radio, and sure, we get people who come because they're friends of the family, and sure, we get people who come because we invite them to come, because we know them. But how does the church grow? It grows one individual at a time. And how does that happen? When the individuals of the body.

Take the gospel to the lost world and share Christ with them. Bring them into the church with them that they might grow in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus. You know, that's how the church grows. And how was the Lord going to build his church? He was going to build his church by taking his life and giving it away. And before he died on the cross, he invested three years of his life into 12 men, one of which was never saved. We'll talk about that in the weeks ahead. 11 of which would change the world.

Change the world because of their commitment to Jesus Christ. And so you need to understand that what Jesus was intended to do was that there was a destiny. He was going to build the church. He was going to build the church one disciple at a time. He was going to build the kingdom of God one disciple at a time. And he chose you and me to do that. That is amazing. By the way, how are you doing that? When was the last time you talked to somebody about Jesus Christ? When was the last time you brought someone to church to hear the gospel about Jesus Christ?

That's what it's about, right? Sure, it is. The church is bigger than it's ever been. But it's less powerful than ever before. You know why? Richard Halvors. Former chaplain of the U. S. Senate, who died back in November of 9, said these words. Christianity began in Palestine as a relationship. It moved to Greece and became a philosophy. It moved to Rome and became a religion. It moved to Europe and became a culture. It moved to America and became an enterprise. That's why the church Is not nearly as powerful as it used to be.

We've lost the emphasis on the relationship, the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ. And the relationship we are to introduce people to that they might have with Jesus Christ. There was a purpose. Behind all that Jesus did in choosing these men. And that is that they might be sent forth to preach the word and produce disciples. And there is a purpose behind why you are here and why Jesus saved your soul. That you might do the same thing. And in so doing, teach others to do the same thing.

And in so doing, they in turn teach others to do the exact same thing. Are you prepared? I trust that you are. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for tonight and a chance to be in your word. And thank you for the great ministry you entrusted to us. Lord, I pray that each and every individual tonight. Would adhere to the calling of God in their lives to make disciples. There is one other person. At least one, you expect us to invest in. It could be two, could be twenty, could be thirty. But you want us to invest our lives and the Word of God into the lives of others, that they in turn might do it with somebody else.

That we might grow deep in our understanding of God. And wouldn't it be good, Lord? If on our deathbed, when we are about to go home to be with Jesus, we could leave knowing that we had successfully imparted the truth of God. To those closest to us, and know for certain that they in turn would take that truth to other people around the world. We pray that that would be our ambition, Lord, as we seek to fulfill the ministry you've called us to do in Jesus' name. Amen.