Disciples of Jesus Christ
Matthew 10.1-4
Jesus had many disciples. The Apostles are a part of the greater groups of followers:
There were the crowds, the multitudes. (Matthew 9.36) It was a mixed multitude.
There were the disciples, people who followed Jesus all over. (Luke 6.13)
There were the 70. (Luke 10.1)
There were the twelve, those disciples Jesus designated apostles. (Matthew 10.2-4)
There was the inner circle. (Matthew 17.1)
There was Peter. (Matthew 16.13-20)
There was John. Not the leader but without doubt the closest of the disciples to Jesus. (John 13.23) He was at Jesus’ side when the others were doing other things. There was a similarity between John and Mary of Bethany.
1. The Disciples of Jesus Christ are Ordinary Men.
Most of them were fishermen.
They were blue collar workers, hard workers, they owned their own businesses but it was a laboring business that they worked in themselves.
Acts 4.13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
1) a private person as opposed to a magistrate, ruler, king
2) a common soldier, as opposed to a military officer
3) a writer of prose as opposed to a poet
4) unskilled in any art
That is so encouraging to me! The LORD is telling us here He uses the likes of you and me! He uses a bunch of nobodies. Jesus calls people to follow Him who will follow in His footsteps: God Almighty leaving heaven to be born in a stable through a virgin from a place that was looked down upon, to be born in a the smallest city in Judah. Then the LORD becoming a carpenter, working as a common man, calling men to follow Him who were also common workers. These are the people who follow Jesus... occasionally we have a doctor like Luke (and we thank the LORD for them!) But most of us fit the description of ordinary.
I Corinthians 1.26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
We are ordinary people who serve the LORD God Almighty!
2. The Disciples of Jesus Christ are a mixed group.
Not mixed up! On the contrary those who follow Jesus are not confused.
Mixed- diversity- Jesus had this right in the original group.
Let’s look at one. The Zealots were a wild group. They were kind of renegade warriors who rode the through towns and fought Roman soldiers and then disappeared into the mountains. The only ones they would have hated more than the Romans would have been the tax collectors, looked at to be a traitor of their own people. Jesus chose both a zealot and a tax collector to be part of the twelve! He puts people together that we would have never thought about putting together, on the contrary we may work at keeping them apart!
But this in part was to prove the point that...
3. The Disciples of Jesus Christ have a distinguishing mark- it is love!
John 13.34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Words to live by from the Master of Love.
We need it because we are so different. We have a church of different cultural backgrounds. We have many different ways of viewing things in life. We are an inter generational church which means we are made up of various ages.
We need it because we are so different. We have a church of different cultural backgrounds. We have many different ways of viewing things in life. We are an inter generational church which means we are made up of various ages.
We miss the mark. We fall short of God’s Glory. We fall short of perfect love at times. I Peter 4.8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. We need to keep ourselves in the love of God!
Keep short accounts with God and others.
Forgive people each day for their sins, trespasses and debts.
Refuse to dig up old sins against you.
Forgive as the LORD forgave you.
Love each other deeply.
4. The Disciples of Jesus Christ have a mission in this world.
Our purpose is to follow Jesus:
*in character
We are to become like the Master. More Like the Master as we make our way to heaven.
We are to bear fruit... fruit that will last. Jesus told ordained us to do that. (John 15.16)
He was speaking about both inner character and outward activity. Look at John 15 closely.
* in activity
We are do the works He commissioned the church to do... greater works... I believe He was talking about numbers here. The works of Jesus continue through the church.
We are to bring the gospel to people... the good news.
This is so entangled (for lack of a better word). Our lives are to be witnesses. We are to live a life of love and righteousness. Yet we are to be active in sharing our faith. Paul prayed that for Philemon (6) I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
We are do the works He commissioned the church to do... greater works... I believe He was talking about numbers here. The works of Jesus continue through the church.
We are to bring the gospel to people... the good news.
This is so entangled (for lack of a better word). Our lives are to be witnesses. We are to live a life of love and righteousness. Yet we are to be active in sharing our faith. Paul prayed that for Philemon (6) I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Sharing our faith brings joy.
Sharing our faith gives us a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. We get to view salvation objectively.
Follow Jesus. Share your faith.
Be a disciple. Make disciples!
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