MAKING DISCIPLES
READ 1 Timothy 1:1-2
I hope to encourage us today about the work of making disciples which is to help new believers grow in their walk with Christ.
What have you done during the past five years that will have lasting value? Sometimes, we can get so caught up in our busyness that we forget what we are supposed to do. Most of what we should be doing as believers is to win the lost, and disciple new converts.
The one thing needed within the church is the vital ministry of making disciples, of winning people to Jesus Christ, and nourishing and nurturing men and women as sons and daughters of the faith. This is the challenge of Paul’s greeting. In seeing the relationship that existed with Paul and Timothy, we should be challenged more and more to make disciples—to get to the task of growing leaders within God's church.
1. Notice Paul’s Call and Credentials – (vs. 1).
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.”
Paul calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ. The word apostle means a person who is officially sent out to represent Christ. An apostle is a representative, an ambassador, an envoy, a person who is sent out into one country to represent another country.
Paul speaks about his apostleship:
Paul was an apostle by the command of God.
The word command means to be under orders, one who has a mandate. It is the instruction given by some high official that must be carried out, for example, the word of a king. The word command has the sense of compulsion, force, and necessity.
Paul was an apostle because of God our Savior.
This is one of the great titles of God. God is the first source of our salvation. We are saved because God loves us. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Paul was an apostle because of Jesus Christ, who is our hope.
Jesus Christ is a person's hope of glory (Col. 1:27). When a person receives Jesus Christ into his heart and life, the divine nature of Christ...
makes the person acceptable to God.
gives the person the recognition, acceptance, and friendship of God and of all other believers (the church).
gives the person security and gives him supernatural power to conquer the trials of life.
delivers the person from death and gives him the inheritance of eternal life.
Hope will carry you a long way if it is placed in Christ alone.
2. Notice the Disciple’s Privilege and Need - (v. 2).
“Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Timothy was greatly privileged, for he was treated as a son by Paul himself. Note that Paul calls Timothy "my own son in the faith." When Paul first met Timothy, Timothy was only ten to twelve years old. But even at that young age, his love for the Lord was apparently strong and noticed by Paul. When Paul returned to Lystra on his next missionary journey, Paul was so stricken with Timothy's spiritual maturity that he invited him to become a disciple. Paul took him under his wing and began to disciple him in the Lord—to teach him all he knew. What a wonderful privilege: to be discipled by Paul the apostle.
Notice the greeting by Paul. He names three qualities that a disciple must possess.
1. There is the grace of God and of Christ – vs. 2
The grace of God and of Christ speaks of unmerited favor. Although Timothy’s father was an unsaved Gentile, his mother and grandmother raised Timothy in the ways of God. What a wonderful testament to God’s grace.
2. There is the mercy of God and of Christ – vs. 2
Mercy: feelings of pity, compassion, affection, kindness. It is a desire to help; to tenderly draw unto oneself and to care for. Mercy arises from a heart of love: God has mercy upon us because He loves us. His mercy has been demonstrated in two great ways:
God has withheld His judgment from us—withheld it even when we deserved it.
God has provided a way for us to be saved through the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. There is the peace of God and of Christ – vs. 2
Peace: means to be bound, joined, and woven together with God and with everyone else. It means to be assured, confident, and secure in the love and care of God. A person can experience true peace only as he comes to know Jesus Christ. Only Christ can bring peace to the human heart, the kind of peace that brings deliverance and assurance to the human soul. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
Do you desire to do those things which will last? You can if you are willing to make disciples, to nourish and nurture young Christian believers in the faith. You have a wonderful example in the life of Paul and Timothy. Who are you investing in for the future?
Your Friend and HIS,
Pastor Abbott
MEDITATIONS
1. Where are you to focus your hope? How alive is hope in your life? What can you do to cultivate hope?
2. Paul lists three qualities that a disciple must possess. What are they?
3. Have you ever taken the time to disciple a young believer? How would you approach the responsibility?
4. How intimate was the relationship between Paul and Timothy?
5. Why is it important to have a Timothy or a Paul in your life?