Christ - Commanded All Believers to Make Disciples:

Christ - Commanded All Believers to Make Disciples:

INTRODUCTION:

From the start of his ministry, Jesus (Yeshua) Christ sought disciples since he well knew the work before him could not be done by him along. At first his ministry consisted of only preaching to the lost sheep of the house of Israel since his assignment by his Father, Almighty God (YHWH) was to go the lost sheep of the house of Israel per Matthew 15:24, "But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (American Standard Version; ASV). Of course after the Jewish leaders rejected him, the message of God was taken to others with the Apostle Peter being given the opportunity to open the work to the gentiles as follows, Acts 10:1-21, "Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2 a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 He saw in a vision openly, as it were about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in unto him, and saying to him, Cornelius. 4 And he, fastening his eyes upon him, and being affrighted, said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and fetch one Simon, who is surnamed Peter: 6 he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side. 7 And when the angel that spake unto him was departed, he called two of his household-servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8 and having rehearsed all things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 ¶ Now on the morrow, as they were on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour: 10 and he became hungry, and desired to eat: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance; 11 and he beholdeth the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: 12 wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven.
13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean." (ASV). 15 And a voice came unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. 16 And this was done thrice: and straightway the vessel was received up into heaven. 17 Now while Peter was much perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men that were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate, 18 and called and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter, were lodging there. 19 ¶ And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 But arise, and get thee down, and go with them, nothing doubting: for I have sent them. 21 And Peter went down to the men, and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?" (ASV).

Of course, when Jesus (Yeshua) saw another in need, he would assist them even if the were not of the household of Israel due to his great compassion and interest in mankind and this was shown even before he came to earth to be born as a human at Proverbs 8:30-31, "Then I was by him, as a master workman; And I was daily his delight, Rejoicing always before him, 31 Rejoicing in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men." (ASV).

JESUS (YESHUA) SAID - GO MAKE DISCIPLES:

Interestingly after his resurrection by his Father, Almighty God (YHWH) and before his ascension to heaven, Jesus (Yeshua) stressed to all his genuine (true) followers the need to go out and make disciples as recorded at Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (ASV). Why, was he so concerned? He was so concerned as he knew all needed to learn the truth per John 8:32, " and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (ASV), because he knew it was vital for all of mankind and that he was not the one who would carry it to the most distant parts of the world.

He clearly said his disciples would do be the ones to carry the work to all the earth in keeping with his command at Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come." (ASV); therefore, he humbly acknowledged that they would do per John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (ASV). What did he mean by greater works? He meant three things:

First, His followers would cover more territory; they would bear witness to the extremities of the earth - far beyond the boarders of the land of Palestine where Jesus (Yeshua) himself preached.

Two, That his followers would reach more people - the small band of disciples he left quickly grew into the thousands before the end of the 1 st. Century and is still growing today.

Third, That his genuine (true) followers would preach the message of the kingdom of God and of the salvation by way of Jesus (Yeshua) for a much longer period of time. In fact, it is still being done and will continue until he stops it.

Jesus (Yeshua) was expressing confidence in his followers, and his confidence in them proved to be right on target.

DISCIPLES NEEDED TRAINING AND TO LEARN TACT:

His disciples of the 1 st. Century learned how to effectively carry on the preaching work by observing him in action. He preached in cities, marketplaces, private homes - literally anywhere people could be reached. Also, he inspired urgency in his disciples by his example of hard work, it was not a casual pastime for him per Luke 21:37-38, "And every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is called Olivet. 38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him." (ASV).

He was motivated by a deep-rooted love for people just as are his disciples of today. He was full of compassion per Mark 6:34, "And he came forth and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things." (ASV). However reaching individuals requires tact as brought out by what he said at Matthew 10:11-13, "And into whatsoever city or village ye shall enter, search out who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go forth.
12 And as ye enter into the house, salute it. 13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you." (ASV); and Luke 10:5, "And into whatsoever house ye shall enter, first say, Peace be to this house." (ASV).

JESUS (YESHUA) TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO EXPECT OPPOSITION:

Jesus (Yeshua) well knew that the arch-enemy of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jacob, creator of all there is, Almighty God (YHWH), Satan the Devil, would mount strong opposition to the discimination of God's message of his kingdom. He stated at Mark 13:9-13, "But take ye heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in synagogues shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for my sake, for a testimony unto them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached unto all the nations. 11 And when they lead you to judgment, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." (ASV).

And God's arch-enemy Satan the Devil acted exactly as Jesus (Yeshua) had foretold. Satan set up counterfeit religious groups to mimic the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua), and also counter religions such as Islam, etc. to draw away from the genuine gospel of the Christ. In fact, the religious ignorance of these counterfeit and counter religious groups actually is greater than the scientific ignorance of scientist in 1492 who for the most part thought the earth was flat and that Christopher Columbus would sail off the end of the earth. Of course Columbus did not.

Opposition of course came on strong to the preaching of the genuine (true) gospel of Christ as shown at Luke 10:10-12, "But into whatsoever city ye shall enter, and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, 11 Even the dust from your city, that cleaveth to our feet, we wipe off against you: nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh. 12 I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city." (ASV). Of course, this fact of opposition serves as a gauge to ascertain whether you truly are one of his disciples in that if you do not experience it, you probably are not one of his genuine (true) followers. Another gauge would be as John 13:34-35 shows, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (ASV). Now, if you experience opposition when preaching the gospel of Christ and the group (congregation) you are associated with has love among its members - this is a good indicator that you may be a genuine (true) follower of Christ.

However, three more major thing is required, First, you must have strong faith, and as Habakkuk 2:4 says, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (ASV). Second, You must follow the teachings of the Bible - Old and New Testament - and put away the false creedal doctrines and practices and traditions of creedal religions. Third, You must love your creator the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jacob, creator of all there is, Almighty God (YHWH), and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus (Yeshua). Remember 1 John 4:8, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (ASV); and what Jesus (Yeshua) said at Matthew 22:37-40, "And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets." (ASV).

JESUS (YESHUA) COMMISSION TO HIS DISCIPLES:

Jesus (Yeshua) in giving his genuine (true) followers the commission to go out and preach the gospel of Christ clearly also wanted us to make disciples as shown at Matthew 28:18-20, " And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (ASV). He made it clear that all authority had been given to him which harmonizes with John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me." (ASV); and showed that his Father, Almighty God (YHWH) had delegated him the job of judging all of mankind at John 5:22, "For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son;" (ASV).

All should pay more than the usual attention to what he said at Matthew 28:19 in that he specifically tells his genuine (true) followers to go forth and "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them," etc. So all his genuine (true) followers should be eager to initiate conversations with others in person or by electronic means with a view of assisting all to know the gospel of Christ and of God's coming kingdom. But in Matthew 28:20 he emphasis the need to properly teach all to observe what he had commanded until the culmination of the end times.

Therefore as Luke 12:22-32 shows, "And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. 23 For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment. 24 Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them: of how much more value are ye than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto the measure of his life? 26 If then ye are not able to do even that which is least, why are ye anxious concerning the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more shall he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: but your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31 Yet seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you. 32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (ASV).


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