Lessons In Discipleship Part 1 | Matthew 10:1-5a

Scripture

• Matthew 10:1

About this sermon

Introduction: The harvest is plentiful. The laborers are few. Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Our Lord spoke those words to a large company of disciples. Sometimes when we think about the Lord’s disciples, we think immediately of the twelve. But we should remember that our Lord had many disciples in addition to the twelve. Some of those disciples, followed Him, but didn’t know Him. And one of those is included in the twelve. The twelve are given special attention, training, and they have a special purpose. He exhorted all His disciples to pray for laborers. Pray because the Lord makes laborers (by saving them). Pray because the Lord equips those laborers. Pray because the Lord locates those laborers. Pray because the Lord empowers and uses those laborers. Now in the 10th chapter we see our Lord taking action that accords with His command. As we said last Sunday evening, what we have here instructs the ministry of the church until Jesus returns. Yes, this tells us what Jesus DID, but it also instructs us about what Jesus DOES. Our Savior now moves to commission the men who will serve as the foundation for His church. Ephesians 2:18–22 (ESV) 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. What we see is the work of the Master disciple-maker. He is the Master-teacher, the Master-trainer, of those whom He saves and makes use of. Today we see four elements of Christ’s commissioning of the apostles, and therefore, four elements of FAITHFUL DISCIPLE-MAKING. • THE ACTION THAT ACCOMPANIES PRAYER (vs.1a) The first thing we see is that our Lord did more than simply call for prayer. He took action that accorded with that call for prayer. • THE LORD CALLED THE DISCIPLES TO PRAYER The disciples were called to pray. Our Lord trained His disciples to see their dependency on God. NOTE: One GREAT problem on display in approaches to discipleship in our day is a lack of emphasis in this very area. There is great stress placed on systems and disciplines and reading materials and other such things. Some of those are good, some are not. But what is certainly NECESSARY is that anyone who is properly taught must learn their utter dependence on God. Pray EARNESTLY for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. THAT WORD EARNESTLY SPEAKS: Of the urgency of the need. Of the utter dependence of the seekers. Of the desire that is present in our beseeching. Of the diligence and work that is necessary for faithful prayer. Of the absolute necessity of this prayer-work. Prayer must be never underestimated. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a man greatly used by God, and perhaps the reason most underestimated was his devotion to prayer. “If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.”― Charles H. Spurgeon “We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer.”― Charles H. Spurgeon John Piper — “On one of his visits to the Continent, Charles Spurgeon (pastor of the large Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, 1853-1892) met an American minister who said, “I have long wished to see you, Mr. Spurgeon, and to put one or two simple questions to you. In our country there are many opinions as to the secret of your great influence. Would you be good enough to give me your own point of view?” After a pause Spurgeon said, “My people pray for me.” • THE LORD GAVE HIMSELF TO PRAYER Of all the ways that our Lord emphasized this, none was greater than His own example. Here is the Lord of glory. Here is the perfect man. Here is perfect wisdom embodied. Here is perfect holiness in motion. YET HE PRAYED, AND HE PRAYED EARNESTLY. Luke’s account of this commissioning tells us what preceded this meeting. Luke 6:12–16 (ESV) 12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. NOTE: OUR LORD TOOK ACTION ON HIS OWN EXHORTATION.

Topics

• Discipleship