Thank you, Johnny. Your lips and your lungs are going to be sore tonight, I guess, all right? Amen. All right, take your Bibles, if you would. Turn to the book of Matthew, chapter number 28, Matthew chapter 28. I appreciate for numbers of people stepping in. I know summertime, you know, a lot of people are in and out, and that is a great thing. And we so are happy for the good things that are going on. And Matthew chapter 28, I want you to look at familiar, familiar passage of Scripture. And I'm going to go ahead and explain what I'm going to be doing the next couple of weeks here with you. But look at verse number 19. The Bible says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations. This is Matthew 28, 19. Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Let's pray together. Lord, we come before you and we pray that you administer to us in a very special way that we would understand the very philosophy of a church undertaking the matter of discipleship. And Lord, may you work and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. About a year after I came here, I became Compelled to begin some discipleship with new believers. We had had a number of people that were saved and When I was at my previous ministry, I think even sterling might have been a part of this a little bit I had established actually had put together what we're utilizing here called the first steps Bible study program and It's a Bible study that is geared for new and young believers. And actually what I've done is I've written a first phase of that study. We do this on Sunday mornings during a Sunday school hour. It is six weeks of the very basics of Christianity. The first week we go over assurance of salvation. Is it important when you first get saved to know that you know that you're saved? That's important. Number two, to talk about baptism, the importance of baptism. Number three, we talk about having a meaningful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That is through prayer and Bible reading. Number four, I appreciate last week Brother Keith helped teach for me while I was gone. And we went ahead and we go through the area of having victory over sin and temptation. Number five, which we did today, is realizing the importance of the local church. And then number six is this, it is taking the gospel to my friends and family. That's the first phase. There have been a number of people that have finished that first phase here, and they've jumped into the second phase, which is a doctrinal study. And so we have nine doctrinal areas, and we go through those things, and I'm in the process right now of writing the third phase. But what I did, I have, since I've been here, I have also put together a companion guide for the area of discipleship. What is the value and importance of pastors and churches in discipling new and young believers? And so in putting that guide together, Actually, I appreciate some of the help that has been along with me and going through this. I appreciate Debbie and very much and the help that she has done with with regards to proofing and helping get it set for publication. And here real soon, it's going to be out for publication. And my main effort really is to do this for Calvary Baptist Church. I want to see Calvary Baptist Church strengthened in the area of discipleship. But if other churches, other pastors can be helped, that is a great thing. And I began to think about our method and our moving forward in the area of discipleship. And if we're going to disciple young believers, it is imperative that as a church that we understand what we're doing. And so I'm gonna walk through the next couple weeks a few things about discipleship. The first thing that I wanna talk about tonight, and that's the title of this message, is the philosophy of discipleship. Why should we disciple believers? So many times people are gonna ask what is a biblical philosophy of discipleship? What should a church do to establish the areas of discipleship? Well, they're good questions to ask and things that we need to make note of. It has been sad to me over the years there have been many churches that have not gotten involved in the area of discipleship. Now why? Many times there have been pastors who are very concerned about other people doing discipleship in the church. I have found some pastors, I've known many pastors, that are very covetous, if you will, about any preaching or teaching that goes on. So they feel that their ministry is, if any preaching or teaching is going to come along, it's going to come through me as the pastor. Well, I'm just telling you, I don't see that at all. I believe that God will use me to a certain capability, but there are going to be raised up many people that can help in the preaching and teaching of God's Word. But secondly, there have been, through the 70s and 80s, in conservative churches, where discipleship has almost gotten a very bad name. And so what a lot of pastors and churches have done is said, you know what, it's caused cliques, it's caused problems, and therefore, we're not going to do any discipleship at all. And I believe they're missing out. Because I believe that when you look at the Bible, the Bible shows that discipleship is a very important matter in the local church. It is important for us to see what is the proper philosophy of discipleship. Now what is philosophy? What do you mean by philosophy? Why do you keep using that word? Well, a philosophy is simply what guides a person. It is the underlying principles that control an activity and actually give us our foundation. So the question I have to ask is, whenever we determine what the philosophy of any ministry is, where do we go? Question, what's the answer? The Bible, we go back to the Bible. So when we talk about the area of discipleship, where are we gonna go? We're not gonna go to another church and say, hey, how do you do discipleship? You know, I understand there are seminars, but I believe too many pastors, you know what they've done for too long? They run around to this church and that church and this seminar and that place and they say, how are you doing it? Let me see if I can do it here. I'm telling you, a lot of churches and a lot of pastors have failed because they're trying to implement what they're seeing done at various other places. It is important for a pastor, and what I've tried to do here is try to get the lifeblood of Calvary Baptist Church and then determine how best we can move forward. And yes, I may hear of some things, but it is important that we work through the scriptures and see what does the Bible say. So let's talk about four things tonight about a philosophy of discipleship, the word of God gives us the foundation of how to operate and build an effective discipleship ministry. Number one, let's look at this. It was a mission echoed by Jesus Christ. It was a mission echoed by the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the words that we just read in Matthew 28 are the very, some of the very last words that are given by Jesus. Isn't it interesting to note that the very last words of Jesus are the first words of our duty? That is, the last words that Jesus gave are to go and give the gospel, and our first priority is to get that gospel to a lost and dying world. That's what we're supposed to do. And so the Lord Jesus Christ gave us the plan. Notice the plan as it is given by Jesus Christ. When you read Matthew 28, 19, and 20, it is given here in three parts. Notice here, number one in verse number 19. He says, go ye therefore, and number one, teach all nations. Now when we think of the word teach, what do we think of? We think of somebody before a group of people and teaching on something. The word teach in this particular passage has this idea, to make disciples. In essence, what Jesus is saying is this. You and I are to go out and give the gospel and lead people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and cause them to become a follower, a disciple of Jesus. So number one, get the gospel out and see people get saved. Number two, what are we supposed to do in verse 19? Go ye therefore teach all nations. What's the next thing? Could you give it to me? baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Now, can I say to you tonight that a lot of good independent Baptist churches are very good on these two points. They're all about getting out and knocking on doors and reaching people with the gospel and making sure they get in the baptistry waters, and I'm not against all that. I want to see all that. But you know what's sad? Many churches stop right there. Those people that have been saved flounder in the pews like babies, spiritual babies, for years. You know why? Because nobody has taken the third part of the Great Commission, and what is that? It's found in verse number 25. And it says, teaching. Now this is a different word, teaching. The first word means to make disciples. That's number one. Number two, baptize. Number three, we then are to teach. That is giving the principles. That is helping them to see what the doctrines are, what the importance are. And Jesus said, you're to teach them all things Whatsoever I have given to you notice that that's what he says here teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I have commanded you Now, you know what the word go look at that first word of verse number 19 go That's a command That's why it's called the Great Commission not the Great Suggestion Too many Christians treat the Great Commission like it's a suggestion as if, well, I'll go when I'm ready to go, or I'll go when I'm prepared to go. No, Jesus said to us, if you're born again, you are to go and give the gospel. And let's put the word go as it is for every part. Go and teach all nations, that is see people saved. Go and baptize people, and go and disciple people. So as we see in this crucial passage, Jesus here echoed the mission of getting the gospel out. Number two, I want you to notice this, it was not only something echoed by Jesus, but it was established by him. It was a ministry established by Jesus Christ. I want you to think about it, Jesus took And he basically staked the mission of reaching the world on a handful of people. Think about that. Let me ask you a question. We've got here over, now, we've got over seven, we've got about 7.6 billion people in the world. Imagine if we took the next 10 minutes and we just kind of did some polling amongst all of you. How best should we reach the 7.6 billion people in the world? Well, some of you might say, look, let's get out some big radio ads all over the world. Let's go ahead and do television. Let's do newspaper. And we start thinking big. We start thinking in the masses because 7.6 billion people, isn't that a lot of people? Of course it is. So we start thinking of all of these mass productions. And may I say that none of those are wrong. It's great when we can get out massive radio things, massive television things. It's great when some of these evangelists can get people in a large stadium and the word of God is given and people are saved. I rejoice over those things. But do you notice that when we read the gospels, you don't see Jesus preaching in the Yankee Stadium, you know what I mean? You don't see Jesus going ahead and saying, now let's get a, now, he did have large groups that followed him, but I want you to think with me about this for just a moment. Jesus established his ministry, not only with his disciples, but his personal ministry was one-on-one. Now there's no doubt in our minds, Jesus came for the sole purpose of getting the gospel to a lost and dying world. Luke chapter 19, verse number 10, Jesus said, or the Bible says of him, the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. But think with me about Jesus's going out and reaching individuals. You remember John chapter four when Jesus was passing from Judea to Galilee and he went through Samaria and who did he meet there? A woman. Did not the Bible say he must needs go through Samaria? You know what, it was in the heart of the Lord to go through because out of all of the people in Samaria, he had one person he wanted to reach, one individual. Think with me about John chapter nine, when Jesus passed by all the religious leaders in order to come upon one man who was born blind. Or how about John chapter three? Here's a man in the middle of the night, a religious leader by the name of Nicodemus, who seeks Jesus out and talks to him. Jesus is having one-on-one conversation. You know what Jesus is doing? Jesus is having a great effect on some people. All of these are wonderful examples. And I believe that there are no greater examples than the very disciples themselves. How many disciples did Jesus choose? 12 of them. You can read in Matthew chapter 4, 19 and 20 of the calling of Peter and Andrew. You can read in the next chapters coming through of the selection of other disciples. And here's the pattern of what you see that Jesus established. Here's Jesus's ministry. These disciples got saved. Now you say, Preacher, I don't read anywhere in the Gospels where these disciples got saved and baptized. I'm just gonna tell you something, you're gonna have to, no, there's no record given specifically, but you have to bank on the fact that these men knew Christ as their Savior, they were baptized because Jesus used them to baptize others. And there's no doubt Jesus would not, he would not have used them to go ahead and baptize and get the gospel out if they had not first been saved. So these men were saved, they were baptized, and you know what Jesus did? Jesus taught them. Now you say, preacher, where did he teach them? You know, that's the interesting thing about the Bible. You know, sometimes we like to come to the Bible, if we're gonna study something about electricity, you know what we're gonna do? Well, we're not gonna go to the library anymore because, but we're gonna get on Google, okay? And we're gonna type up electricity and we're gonna, but the old-fashioned days, we go down to the library and we say, all right, I wanna find out all about electricity. So we'd find that stack of books, we'd pull it out and read it. You don't read one single book in the Bible that has one particular subject. But when you look through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, here's what you find all scattered through there is Jesus is teaching every bit of the way his disciples the major things that we'd be teaching. You know some of the things that we'd be teaching, young believers? The second phase of First Steps Bible study, which I'll be sharing with you in a couple weeks, is all a doctrinal study. It's going over the doctrine of God, the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of salvation. You say, preacher, where did Jesus really teach all those? Think with me for just a moment of where Jesus taught some of those things. Jesus went through teaching about the doctrine of God. Remember in John 4.23? In John 4.24, God is a spirit. Those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. You know what Jesus was teaching His disciples? God's a spirit. That's one thing He was sharing with them. He taught them all about the doctrine of Himself. You read through the Gospel of John. How many times have you come across the I am statements of Jesus? I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection. I am the good shepherd. You know what Jesus is doing? He's teaching doctrinal things of who He is. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit. You read John 14, 15, and 16. Very crucial chapters all about the Holy Spirit. That's Jesus' teaching. And you can go on and on. You can look at the end times. That's Matthew 24 and 25. Jesus, in fact, that's a question to his disciples. Lord, tell us about the end times. When are you gonna set up your kingdom? Well, Jesus takes, and we call it the Olivet Discourse. He goes ahead and shares two whole chapters about the end times. So what's Jesus doing? He's teaching. So what I have in mind here is this, when Jesus said in our text, Matthew 28, 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, the disciples were thinking back, okay, in the last three years, let's see, we learned this, we learned that, we learned this, we learned this, all right, we gotta take all of that and when we lead people to Christ and we see them get baptized, we take all of those things and we lead them. Do you think it stops there? No, now that next generation takes what has been given to them, they go reach another group of people, they see them get saved and baptized, and they teach what has been given to them. And from the time of Jesus until 2019, think of the generation after generation after generation that has been saved and baptized and been taught the things that Jesus gave to his disciples. That's the ministry that Jesus established. And so when we're talking about giving these basic things, we're not just making up things. We're coming back to the Bible and saying, this is what Jesus gave to the 12. This is what we need to give to others. Now, number three philosophy idea is this. It was a mention that was given in the New Testament epistles, a mention evidence in the New Testament epistles. Now, you say, Preacher, if discipleship was really that important, it would be seen in more than just the Gospels. And you're right, it is. When you read the book of Acts and the corresponding epistles, there is a great emphasis on establishing churches, that's evangelism, and the teaching of those converts is clearly evident. The process of how that's done is really irrelevant. I mean, I know we like to get the little nuts and bolts, and we like to nitty gritty and just say, well, I wanna make sure I do it just right. The process is irrelevant. It is the mere fact that we go through and do the discipleship and the teaching. And when you look at the word disciple throughout the Bible, you're gonna find something. The word disciple literally means a follower of Jesus Christ, a follower, a follower. That's the term disciple. And so when you and I are discipling people, we're having them follow in the teachings that we're giving. I wanna go ahead and just look at a couple of New Testament passages. I want you to look, if you will, at 2 Timothy chapter two, verse number two. 2 Timothy chapter two. Now I want you to note something here for just a moment. Timothy wrote, is being written this letter by Paul. Paul was his mentor. Who was Paul's mentor? We believe Paul actually had a number of people that had helped him like Barnabas and Ananias and there were others, but Paul actually had a very special thing. For three years the Holy Spirit taught Paul in the desert of Arabia. There's no doubt about it. Now, as much as I talk about one-on-one and getting in and personally discipling people, can I say there's nothing that can be traded with what the Holy Spirit's gonna give to you? Don't rely on being spoon-fed by people. Don't rely on just what other people, and just regurgitate what other people have given to you. It is imperative that when you get saved, and that when you start studying the word of God, you study it for yourself. because there's no greater thing than to grab something for yourself. Well, 2 Timothy 2, Paul says this to Timothy, his young protege, his disciple. And the things that thou hast heard of me, notice, Timothy, he's basically saying, you've heard me preach, I have taught, I have sat with you in Bible studies, and all of this has been done amongst witnesses. What's he telling Timothy? You now commit this to other faithful people who shall be able to teach others also. Think about that. What Paul is saying is what I've been given by Jesus, I'm now given to you and now you take and you pass on to someone else. You see, that's the philosophy here. It is a mention that is evidenced in the New Testament. I'm going to look next week, I'm not going to turn here today because this will be our passage on Sunday morning of next week, but Ephesians chapter 4. You know what the pastor's job is? The pastor's job is to teach the people so the people along with the preacher can do the work of the ministry. It's funny how many times people say, well preacher, we pay you to do that. And I understand there's certain things that you pay, but I'm not here as a lone duck. I'm here with you. You're here with me. And the job of a preacher is to teach and to instruct and to edify so all of us together can do the work of the ministry. That's the evidence of discipleship. Acts chapter 2 verse 42, isn't it interesting? Right when the 5,000 got saved in Jerusalem, The Bible says, and they, that is all those who got saved, continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Now we like to talk about the fellowship, the breaking of bread. We like to say, oh yeah, they talked and they had potluck dinners and all that type of stuff. I mean, we like to talk about all that. But you know the first thing they got in? They continued in the apostles' doctrine. Now let me ask you a question, was it really the apostles doctrine? No, I mean it was what was given by Jesus Christ, but it was what they were used to lay out, this is the early days, these are these crucial men who were used by God to lay these things out in these early church days. John 8, verse 31, Jesus says, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And then I wanna take you to Titus, the next book after 2 Timothy, Titus chapter number two. Now wouldn't this be something great if Calvary Baptist could do this? I'm gonna read these verses, and I want you to think what I'm sharing here. Titus chapter two, verse number one. But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober. Now, we're not talking about alcohol-related stuff, all right? I mean, I'm hoping you're sober already, okay? But we're talking about sober in mind, okay? Be sober in mind. grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women, now, you say, preacher, what age is aged? Well, you figure that out, okay? Apply it wherever you want. The aged woman, likewise, that they be in havior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. Now note verse four. that they may teach the young women to do the things that they're supposed to be doing. Now look up here for just a moment. This is what Calvary Baptist can and should be good at. all of the aged women, and likewise, verse number six, young men likewise exhort, that is you aged men, if you're in that category, okay, you teach the younger men. Now think with me for just a moment. Young adults today, and you know this, if you're over 50 years old, you know that the younger generation, I mean, it's a whole different generation, isn't it? I had to get a big amen. I mean, truly, it is. I even have a hard time relating sometimes and figuring stuff out. But truthfully, as the young generations, my age and younger, come in with all sorts of baggage and problems and issues, I mean, imagine the things that we're dealing with today. And you know what has sickened me, oftentimes, as just a Christian in church, is I get these old people who go, oh, shame, shame, shame. You know, these people, they ought to just grow up. They ought to be responsible. Instead of charging against them, let's go ahead and put an arm around them and say, let me sit down with you and show you what I went through. And let me help teach you the Word of God. You older women ought to get some younger ladies and say, I'm going to show you the ropes. You older men ought to get some younger men around with you. Take them out on a fishing boat on Saturday. Take them hunting with you. Go do something with them and begin to teach them the Word of God. Instead of complaining about the next generation, do something about it. That's what's important. And so, here it is. It's a mention that is evidence in the New Testament. Last thing I want you to see is it was a model exemplified in various ways by New Testament Christians. Now, we're talking about a philosophy. Jesus spoke of it. Jesus did it. We see it done in the New Testament and we see a couple of models that I want to bring your attention. Now I can name a couple of number of things but I want to give you just two simple examples if I could. Turn if you will to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Now, Acts chapter 19 and 20 are very powerful chapters because in Acts chapter 19, the ministry of Paul in Ephesus is displayed. Now, Paul spent, as far as we know, There was no longer time he spent anywhere than in Ephesus. Three years he was there. The book we're studying on Sunday mornings, think about it. Paul had been three whole years with these people. He knew them. And so here it is. In Acts 19, the ministry is displayed, but now in Acts chapter 20, he recounts with the elders what he did with them and what they need to do after he leaves. Look with me, if you will, at verse number 20. Acts 20, verse 20. Paul says, and this is right in the middle, he's beginning verse 17 of recounting what they need to do, but he says here, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but notice, have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. Now I know a lot of my conservative gospel friends, and I'm all for house to house visitation, but I don't use this passage for house to house visitation. I believe in knocking on doors, and as long as I've got breath and I'm able to walk, I'm going to knock on doors and tell people about Jesus. I believe that this passage is referring to in these days when these people didn't have enough money to put together for a building, they met in different houses. They had this elder oversaw this people. This elder was with these people in that church and these elder. And all of it was the house or the church of Ephesus, but it was different houses. And Paul said, look, I went to this house and that house and this house. I taught you publicly. From house to house. But now notice verse 27. He says, I have not shunned to declare unto you. Notice that word. Paul says, I've not held anything back. I've blown my gun with both barrels. Okay, that's what he's saying. I've not shunned to declare unto you. Look at verse 28. He's telling now these elders, these preachers in Ephesus, he says, take heed therefore to all the flock. What's the flock? That's the sheep, the people. He says, you're to help them. Verse 31, notice this. He says, towards the end, I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Look at verse 35. He says, I have showed you all things and to remember, a little bit later in the verse, the words of the Lord Jesus. You know what Paul's doing here? Here's what Paul's doing in Acts 20. Paul says, look, God's moving me on. It's time for me to go to another place, start another church. That was Paul's calling. But for whatever reason, he stayed there for three years and he told the people, here's what I've done. I've taught the people, I have warned them, I have declared unto them all the counsel of God. That's what you need to do now. Paul goes on, guess what, establishes another church, teaches them, gets them mature, and then does the process over and over again. Another example I want you to see, you're in Acts 20, look at Acts 18, just go back a couple of chapters, Acts 18, verse 24. Bible says in a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in the Spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord. But notice he had a problem, knowing only the baptism of John. Now here is Apollos' problem. It wasn't that he was a heretic. It was he had not been instructed properly, okay? Now note that. So we're talking here, he had known about the baptism of John, which was a baptism of repentance pointing to Jesus Christ, but he hadn't been taught everything about Jesus Christ, okay? So note here now in the next verse, in verse number 26, he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. whom, when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, that is, they sat under his preaching one day, and instead of getting up and going, you know, I can't believe this, Apollos, he's preaching all this stuff. And they start going out and chattering out in the foyer, and they get on the phone, and they start writing emails to people, and I can't believe what's going on at the church over there, and all these bad things are happening. No, you know what this dear couple did? I'm not gonna read the rest of the verses. They quietly went up to Apollos. They said, come with us, we're going to Beefo Brady's for lunch. And we wanna sit down with you for a little while. Let's share the word of God with one another. And as they ate chicken wings, and they went through the things, Apollos was taught by this dear couple the word of God. You know what it shows to me about discipleship? Discipleship is not just for new and young believers. It's a lifelong process. Look, I long to have people share things with me and to help me. I have been very appreciative of Brother Larry Potts, who has been in the ministry for a number of years. From time to time, we get together at Dunkin' Donuts, and I've asked him on a couple of occasions, Help me, you know? Share with me some things. Tell me some things that could help. Let me know some areas that would be beneficial. We all need to be disciples. And so tonight as I share this opening message about our area of discipleship, I trust that you'll be encouraged by the fact that discipleship is a mission echoed by Jesus. and that it was a ministry established by him. It was given mention in the New Testament and it also was modeled in the New Testament. And I'm praying that the Lord would do some mighty things through Calvary Baptist as we not only see people saved, baptized, but we get involved as a whole church together in discipling them. I close with this statement tonight. I don't know who made it. But they said this, the most significant contribution we make in life is the passing of our faith to the next generation. So let me ask you tonight, what are you doing to disciple others? Maybe tonight at our invitation time, some of you aged men, aged women, I say that kiddingly. But some of you that are older, mature in the faith, need to come and say, Lord, I don't know who, but I want to help somebody. I don't have long in this life, but I want to make sure that every day that I have, I'm investing in somebody else. We need that. I just had somebody come to me today. Now I have a couple of people that are in mind, but somebody came to me and they said, my spouse needs someone to help give direction. Could you find someone to help? I said, boy, you just don't even know because I was getting ready to share this tonight. And I believe that there are others that are needed. I praise God for some of the young couples that God is providing. I praise God for Tony and Christy. Tony and Christy have taken on now a whole task. Some of you that have parented for a while, they're gonna benefit from what you've gone through. Now, none of us have done it perfectly, have we? No. But because you've been through things, you're able to help them. I'm thinking about Wendy Richards out there. Praise God for Wendy. Young lady, full of energy, excited about the things of God. I'm thinking about some of these young college kids. I think of Christian, and now David going off, and Noah, and many others, and I know I'm starting to name, and I don't wanna forget anybody, but we've got a number of these young people that need someone to take and put their arms around them. You say, well, I'm too old, they're not gonna listen. Let me just tell you something, they'll listen. They'll listen when they know that you care about them. Instead of coming and going ahead and critiquing and everything else, how about just coming and just saying, how about we get together for a little ice cream, go do something. Let's just, I wanna share some things with you. Be great, be wonderful. Father, thank you for tonight.