Transcript

Disciples Sent To Disciple

John 20:19-30
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Pastor Randy Smith

---

Imagine yourself the owner of a new shoe factory. You have personally invested countless hours into the opening phases of the business. Additionally, large sums of money have been spent on salaries for the employees, machinery for shoe making and materials from which the shoes are to be made. The plant is now in operation with hundreds of workers scurrying to and fro. Machines are running full blast, and activity is at a maximum.

One day you visit the factory and ask the production manager, "How many shoes have we produced so far?" "None," the manager answers. "None?" you exclaim. "How long have we been in operation?" "Two years." "Two years? And still no shoes?" "That's right," the manager says. "We didn't think producing shoes was very important, but we are really busy. In fact, we have been so busy that we are all nearly tired out. We've spent all your money and we've been very active at our jobs."

As the owner of this factory, how would you respond to this report?

Every Sunday morning we come into this "factory." We carry with us detailed instruction manuals from our Boss. He clearly tells us what we should be producing. We claim to be His servants, willing to follow Him at any expense. We are very busy. He has allotted us more money than He ever has in the past. He will hold us accountable. What is our production status? How have we done in fulfilling His objective?

Similar to the shoe factory, many churches fail because they do not understand their purpose of existence and what they should be producing. As the church of Jesus Christ, we have been given one primary objective from our Master. In His final words on earth Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Mt. 18:18b-20a).

Our mission is clear. We are not a social club. We are not a political assembly. We are not an intellectual think-tank. We are not a philanthropic organization. We are a church under the lordship of Jesus Christ. And the commission from our King is to make disciples of the nations.

Specifically, discipleship entails making converts through evangelism, baptizing them and then seeking to mature them through biblical instruction. The goal is then to see these equipped, Spirit-led believers begin the process of discipling others themselves. Dann Spader in his book Growing a Healthy Church concurs. "The Great Commission, contrary to many people's thinking, is not just a missions emphasis, nor is it a focus upon evangelism. It is the mandate of making disciples - a balance of winning people to Christ, building them up in their faith, and then equipping them to share the further work of the Great Commission. The Great Commission is the primary work of the church" (Spader, Growing a Healthy Church, p. 17). Boiled down to its lowest common denominator, our mission is to make disciples who make disciples.

The Gospel of John was written for this purpose. In verse 20 of chapter 20, the Apostle said, "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." In addition to producing converts, few other books in the canon of Scripture have been used more by the church for discipleship than John's gospel.

Jesus Himself modeled the process of discipleship. He preached the gospel wherever He went. He gave Himself fully to His converts, both through formal and informal instruction. He chose spheres of individuals: the 70, the 12, the 3 and the 1. Each of these groups would respectively receive more of His time, as they would be the leaders responsible to continue His process in others upon His earthly departure.

This morning I'd like to first present two exhibits of Christ's discipleship. We'll see the results of His commission from the Father, which He modeled for us. Then we'll explore our commission from Christ to follow His example and be fully engaged in the process of disciple making.

1. THE COMMISSION OF JESUS CHRIST

Let's first begin with "The Commission given to Jesus Christ." His mission was clear. In addition to dying for the sins of His people, He preached the gospel and made disciples. Now that His mission is completed in John 20, we must ask the question, how did He do? Were there any results? Did He produce any disciples? Allow me to introduce you to "Exhibit A."

Exhibit A

Did Jesus produce any disciples? The answer is "yes." In verse 19 we read about His "disciples" gathered on Easter evening. These individuals (probably more than just the Apostles were present) gave evidence of their discipleship as they were filled with love, peace and joy.

First, love. Verse 19 states that these individuals in "fear of the Jews" were hiding behind locked doors. Though they may have been timid, the disciples demonstrated a great love for one another. A loveless disciple is simply a contradiction of terms. These men knew who to seek after when the goings were tough. They banded together for mutual encouragement. They sought comfort from one another. No doubt they ministered to each other as they gathered on the Resurrection Day, the Lord's Day, the first day of the week. And another gathering is recorded the following Sunday in verse 26. We too demonstrate our discipleship when we enjoy gathering corporately as Christians to pray and serve one another in love.

In addition to their love for one another, these disciples experienced peace. Verse 19 also says in miraculous fashion "Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'" Upon seeing Jesus, Luke 24:37 says, "They were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit." But our Savior always gives His disciples peace. As a matter of fact, Jesus thrice repeated this greeting, "Peace be with you" in verses 21 and 26. Understanding peace is essential in discipleship. Due to His death on the cross, Christ's disciples have peace with each other and peace with God. One commentator said, "'Shalom!' on Easter evening is the complement of 'It is Finished' on the cross, for the peace of reconciliation and life from God is now imparted" (Beasley-Murray, John, p, 379).

Finally, Christ's disciples had joy. After they experienced the risen Christ and examined His wounds, verse 20b says, "The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord." Christ wants His disciples joyful and their joy should increase when they find themselves most intimately in His presence.

When I consider these three fruits (love, peace and joy) of discipleship, I can't help but recall the Savior's promises during the Last Supper. "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love" (Jn. 15:9). "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" (Jn. 14:27a). "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" (Jn. 15:18).

Jesus is the Master Discipler! It appears that Jesus succeeded in His commission from the Father. Though the Apostles had room to grow, they were functioning as disciples of Christ. Let's move to "Exhibit B."

Exhibit B

Verse 24 states that Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus first presented Himself. Verse 25, "So the other disciples were saying to him (Thomas), 'We have seen the Lord!' But he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe' (Jn. 20:25).

It's from this verse that we have coined the phrase "Doubting Thomas." But before we jump on the critical bandwagon, maybe we need to consider Thomas' character a little further. Maybe he is more of a disciple than people choose to acknowledge.

When the others were fearful about returning to Judea, Thomas said to his fellow Apostles (in 11:16), "Let us also go, so that we may die with (Jesus)." Though he made his mistakes, as all disciples do, he demonstrated great devotion and raw courage. Church history tells us that Thomas was martyred with a lance in India. Thomas exemplified the call of discipleship to "take his cross and follow (Jesus)" (Mt. 10:38). Additionally, it was Thomas who had the boldness during the Last Supper to ask Jesus the question all the disciples were thinking but afraid to ask. "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way" (Jn. 14:6). Christ's reply is one that has blessed millions throughout the centuries. "(Thomas) I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (Jn. 14:6). If we condemn Thomas' skepticism here in chapter 20, we must praise his unwillingness to not go along with the crowd. If we condemn Thomas' lack of faith, we must do the same for the other Apostles as well. Let's not forget John, "the beloved disciple," in verse 8 who first needed to see the empty tomb before he "believed" as well.

Well, nobody told Jesus the empirical demands of Thomas, but the omniscient Jesus knew them and came to the aid of His disciple. Once again (in verse 26) He appeared on Sunday. Once again He appeared miraculously. And once again He brought the greeting, "Peace be with you." Though Jesus had every right to shame Thomas for his lack of faith, the tender Master met His disciple at his point of weakness and imparted His strength. He met Thomas at His faithlessness and brought him to faith.

In verse 27 "He said to Thomas, 'Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.'" "Thomas answered (in verse 28) and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'"

Thomas, the disciple of Jesus Christ, at this point uttered one of the grandest confessions contained in all of Scripture. Nobody in this entire gospel had praised Jesus with such depth and determination. In praising His Master Thomas fully affirmed not only His lordship, but also His deity.

John concludes this interaction in verse 29. "Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yetbelieved.'" Most translators believe the first half of this verse is better taken as a statement (KJV, NKJ, NLT), than a question. In doing so we soften the rebuke of Christ.

Furthermore, the beatitude spoken by Christ in the second half of the verse, "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed," is applicable to all disciples who will come after Thomas. Following Christ's return to the Father, all of Christ's disciples will not have the benefit of seeing the resurrected Lord. For Christ has inaugurated a new system of discipleship. It will not be one based on sight, but rather one based solely on faith (2 Cor. 4:18). It will not be one based on seeing Christ speak, but rather on hearing Him speak through the proclamation of the Scriptures (Rom. 10:17). Jesus says these disciples (us!) will be even more blessed than His early disciples because our faith rests solely on the truth in His Word. Christian maturity in discipleship is thus confirmed when "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7) fully trusting the promises of God despite our feelings and the absence of Christ's visible presence. Peter said in his first epistle, "And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet. 1:8-9).

Jesus was fully engaged personally in the process of discipleship with His early converts. However, upon His return to the Father He still converts souls and still disciples believers, but He now does it through His church. We become His hands and His feet and His mouth. He uses us to continue His work to make disciples of the nations.

2. THE COMMISSION OF CHRIST'S DISCIPLES

Now sandwiched between these two exhibits of Christ's discipleship (as we move to point two) is the commission Jesus gives to His church in verses 21-23. In other words Jesus is saying, "I've given you the command. I've shown you how it's done. I've successfully produced disciples. Now in My physical absence, I will use your physical presence. I will work through you to continue My process of building My church through discipleship."

The Commission

In the second half of verse 21 Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (cf. Mt. 28:18-20). Here we have Christ's official commissioning of His disciples. Just as the Father commissioned the Son, the Son now commissions His disciples. And this commissioning does not apply only to those in the first century. Jesus Christ expects each and every one of us to be equipped disciples engaged in the process of making more disciples. Just as Christ was commissioned and faithful in His calling, He expects us to realize our commission and also be faithful in our calling. The call to be disciples who make disciples is not an option. It's a primary commandment directly off the lips of our Lord. It's the ultimate mission of our church. The implications are staggering. Christ has called each one of us to be missionaries. We are all "sent ones."

How are we doing both individually and corporately? If we resemble studies done in the evangelical community the result is depressing:

• Ninety-five percent of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ.
• 
  
• Eighty percent of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ.
• 
  
• Less than two percent are involved in the ministry of evangelism.
• 
  
• Seventy-one percent do not give toward the financing of the Great Commission.

(source: unknown).

Another study conducted among Christian leaders (including elders and deacons) in a prominent denomination determined:

• 63% of the leadership have not led one stranger to Jesus in the last two years.
• 
  
• 49% of the leadership spends zero time in an average week ministering outside of the church.
• 
  
• 89% of the leadership has zero time reserved on their list of weekly priorities for going out to evangelize.

While at the same time:

• 99% of the leadership believe that every Christian, including leadership, has been commanded to preach the gospel to a lost world.
• 
  
• 97% believe that if the leadership had a greater conviction and involvement in evangelism, that it would be an example for the church to follow.
• 
  
• 96% of the leadership believe their churches would have grown faster if they would have been more involved in evangelism.

(source: "Street Level Evangelism, Where is the Space for the Local Evangelist," by Michael Parrott, Acts Evangelism, Spokane, WA, 1993, pp. 9-11).

Contrast the lazy, carnal and misguided Christian church with the statement I read this week pertaining to Islam. "At a recent 'Missionary Conference' of Muslim leaders in Los Angeles, they set as their goal the winning of 50 to 75 million Americans to the Islamic faith. They deemed as a reasonable goal citing historic precedents of conquest in North Africa, Egypt and Indonesia" (Erny, Ed. "Beyond the Hammer and the Sickle - The Crescent," OMS Outreach, Sept./Oct. 1990, p. 9).

Yesterday, our family enjoying the beautiful weather went to the Boardwalk. As we walked past a large merry-go-round we surprisingly heard the music to "Onward Christian soldiers." In 1865 Sabine Baring-Gould wrote that classical hymn heralding our victorious conquest in Christ. Based on the visible church and her weakened status, the popular Christian hymn has been revised:

Backward Christian soldiers, Fleeing from the fight,
With the cross of Jesus, Nearly out of sight.
Christ our rightful Master, Stands against the foe;
Onward into battle, we seem afraid to go.

Like a might tortoise, Moves the church of God.
Brothers we are treading, Where we've often trod.
We are much divided, Many bodies we,
Having different doctrines, but not much charity.

Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the cross of Jesus Hidden does remain.
Gates of hell should never 'gainst the Church prevail,
We have Christ's own promise, but we think it might fail.

Sit here then ye people, Join our sleeping throng.
Blend with ours, your voices in a feeble song.
Blessings, ease and comfort Ask from Christ the King,
But with our modern thinking, We won't do a thing.

Chorus:
Backward Christian soldiers, Fleeing from the fight,
With the cross of Jesus, Nearly out of sight.

(Anonymous)

That's the bad news. The good news is there's hope for the church if she is willing to repent. Our hope in conducting this daunting task comes in the fact that Jesus has not left us empty-handed. Yes your Lord commanded you to evangelize. Yes Christ's love in your heart compels you to reach others. Yes a passion for God's glory moves you to desire others bowing the knee to Jesus. These are true, but these motivators alone drive most other religions of the world as well. Our additional motivation comes in the fact that we are guaranteed success!

The Equipment

First of all, we are given the necessary equipment. In verse 22 we read, "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" Many in the church have abused this verse. My detailed conclusions are revealed in your bulletin insert in addition to the website. But for now, suffice it to say that we must interpret verse 22 in the context of evangelism as it comes on the heels of verse 21. As He often did (i.e. Jn. 13:8b), Jesus used symbolism in verse 22 to foreshadow the actual coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Verse 22 is a pledge that speaks of a later fulfillment when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost in Acts 2. What is the connection between the coming of the Holy Spirit and evangelism? In Acts 1:8 we read, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

C.H. Spurgeon once said, "You might as well expect to raise the dead by whispering in their ears, as hope to save souls by preaching to them, if it were not for the agency of the (Holy) Spirit." The Bible says that all without Christ are "dead in (their) trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). However, when we share the Gospel, we have God the Holy Spirit following His Word and quickening hearts to respond. In other words, God had given us all the equipment we need to be successful in discipleship. He has given us His Word and His Spirit.

The Authority

In addition to the Holy Spirit, Jesus has also given us His authority. Beginning the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Christ said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Mt. 28:18). We have not been commissioned by a fellow human of weakness. We have been commissioned by Almighty God, Sovereign King of the universe, the One who wields all authority and power in heaven and on earth!

And when we speak the words of Christ as recorded in the Bible, we speak with His authority (Tit. 2:15). When we identify sin with the Word of God we are functioning as the mouthpiece of God. When we teach the Word of God we are functioning as the mouthpiece of God. And when we share the accurate Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the Word of God we are functioning as the mouthpiece of God.

With this as a backdrop, allow me to read verse 23 in the context of evangelism. "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." This verse is not talking about priesthood absolution in the confessional! Furthermore, we do not have one shred of biblical evidence whereby even an Apostle forgives the sins of another. They had the authority of a preacher and not a priest. And they preached that God forgives sin on the basis of Christ's death (Ac. 10:43; 13:38) because every sin is ultimately an offense against God (Mk. 2:5, 7). Who are we as mere mortals to say a certain sin has been forgiven, or even worse, a certain sin has been retained?

What Jesus is talking about here is simply an affiliation with His authority. When we evangelize and share the Gospel we have the authority to say whether or not a person is saved. If someone acknowledges Christ and turns from his sin, we can say if he is sincere, that his sins are forgiven. On the other hand, if a person willfully rejects the gospel in whatever capacity, we can again say with confidence that his sins have been retained. In other words, verse 23 enables us to declare what God has already done. God works first and we simply confirm His work based upon the truth in His Word. Just as Jesus said elsewhere, "Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven" (Mt. 18:18; 16:19)

Well, we've covered a lot this morning. First we saw the commissioning of Jesus Christ, His faithfulness to the Father's call and His success in making disciples. Then we examined our own commission from Jesus. He said, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (Jn. 20:21). We have been commissioned to make disciples of the nations. We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we speak His message with the authority of heaven.

May we always keep before us the mission of the church. May we continually be in the process of self and corporate examination. May we fulfill our commission by joyously engaging in the process of discipleship, each one of us, which includes evangelism, instruction and then encouragement for them to begin this process in others.

It's not for the lazy. It's not for the loveless. It's not for the lost. Jesus has given us His command. Our mission as His church is clear. He has bestowed upon us everything we need to be successful. May we be an obedient factory of disciples who make disciples.