Now, we come this morning to the third message in a four-part sermon series on Christian discipleship in the local church. And we've anchored our thinking in Colossians chapter 1, verses 28 and 29, a text that succinctly captures the Apostle Paul's philosophy of ministry, which centers upon his practical theology of discipleship. I'll read that passage once again, Colossians one, twenty eight and twenty nine. Paul writes, We proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ for this purpose. Also, I labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me. And I've submitted to you that in those two brief verses, we find five elements of Christian discipleship. That'll equip us to faithfully engage in the work of the Lord's great commission to make disciples of all the nations. And over the past two Sundays, we've given our attention to the scheme and the substance of discipleship. I'll briefly review those just to remind us where we've been. First, we consider the scheme of discipleship, or the goal, or the purpose. Paul says, we proclaim him so that we may present every man complete in Christ. And then verse 29, for this purpose also I labor. The great passion of Paul's life was to see every Christian that was under his care grow in sanctification and ultimately to be perfected in glorification. Paul was not satisfied for Christ's people to remain at the bare minimum of spiritual maturity. He knew that the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of a pure bride, of a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless. And so the purpose of his entire ministry was to labor for the holiness and maturity of Christ's people, of the church. And that taught us that the spiritual maturity of our fellow believers must be the purpose of our ministry in the local church as well. Even those of us who aren't in leadership ought to feel the weight of responsibility that a minister of the gospel feels for those whom he's been called to serve. We ought to be so invested in the spiritual health of our brothers and sisters that we feel the anguish of childbirth until Christ is fully formed in them. that we feel their spiritual weakness as our spiritual weakness, that we struggle in prayer and labor in service, as Paul says, on their behalf until they attain to all the wealth and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are bound up in knowing the person of Christ. And so we must devote ourselves to discipleship, to investing in the body of Christ, to living life alongside one another and helping one another follow Jesus more faithfully. And then, having seen the scheme of discipleship, presenting every man perfect in Christ, we asked, what did Paul do to ensure that that goal would be met? And that brought us to a second point, the substance of discipleship. We proclaim him. admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom. The essence of ministry is we proclaim him. We preach Christ. The very sum and substance of Christian discipleship is the proclamation of Christ to one another. Because the preaching of his per person and work displays his glory. And as we behold his glory by faith, second Corinthians 318 says we are transformed into the same image of glory. The loveliness of Christ satisfies the believer's heart. So that we have no need to seek satisfaction in sin. The pleasure and fellowship with Christ on the path of obedience makes holiness a delight. And so whether it's preaching or counseling, whether it's Bible study or everyday conversations, the heart and soul of all discipleship is we proclaim him. It's look at Jesus. Consider Jesus. Remember Jesus. And then live like you know who he is and what he has done on your behalf. But then last Sunday, we observed that Paul doesn't end with we proclaim him. He expounds further on what it means to proclaim Christ. And we saw in verse 28 that the proclamation of Christ is broken down into two main functions. We proclaim him. How? admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom. The substance of discipleship, the substance of the proclamation of Christ, is carried out through the ministry of admonition and the ministry of teaching. Last time we focused on the ministry of admonition, on how scripture commands us to lovingly and graciously give admonition to those entangled with sin. To humbly and wisely receive admonition when brothers and sisters bring us correction. To go out of our way to invite admonition from trusted friends. And that the goal of admonition is that we would come to share in the holiness without which no one will see the Lord, Hebrews 12. And so we learned that rather than being fearful of giving admonition, we, like Paul, ought not to shrink back from declaring anything that is profitable to our brothers and sisters. Trusting the Lord's promise that faithful are the wounds of a friend. and that a wise man loves those who reprove him faithfully. We learn that rather than being offended by receiving admonition, we ought to earnestly desire the righteous to smite us in kindness because it's like anointing oil on our head that sweetens and refreshes our soul. And we learn that the Lord uses that admonition to make us more like Christ, to fit us to be in the presence of the Lord himself. And so a key feature of Christian discipleship is the ministry of admonition. Well, this morning we come to the second function by which we carry out the proclamation of Christ to one another, and that is the ministry of teaching. Once again, we proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom. Just as much as admonition, so also is teaching absolutely indispensable to discipleship. In fact, the Greek word that gets translated disciple in the New Testament is mathetes. And the fundamental meaning of that word is learner or student or pupil. The standard Greek dictionary defines it as one who engages in learning through instruction from another. So at the very core of discipleship, there are distinct academic and pedagogical overtones. There is no such thing as a disciple without a teacher. Jesus links those two concepts in Luke 640 when he says, a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher. These are inseparable concepts. Throughout Jesus' ministry, the call to discipleship was a call to follow him. To Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4.19, he says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. To Levi in Matthew 9.9, follow me. And Jesus says in Luke 14.27, whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. There is a coming after, a following of Jesus that is definitional of discipleship. Well, Jesus issues that same call to discipleship in Matthew 11, 28 to 30, when he says, Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The call to come to him is the call to be his disciple. But then the next sentence is, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. So the call to come after me, the call to discipleship, is a call to learn. It's a call to be taught. And of course, in Matthew 28, 18 to 20, in the Lord's great commission to the church, he commissions us, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. And you say, how, Lord? How should we do this? How should we make disciples? Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. Teaching them. See, we're after sanctification, maturity, Christ-likeness. We're after obedience. but we must teach to obey. And so, to put it in the language of Colossians 128, if we're serious about proclaiming him in order to present every man complete in Christ, well, then we must be faithful not only to admonish every man, but to teach every man with all wisdom. And this morning, as we consider the ministry of teaching that's part of the substance of discipleship, we'll outline our thoughts along three responsibilities that are comprehended in the discipler's duty to teach every man with all wisdom. Three responsibilities. We must teach one another to know the truth, to love the truth, and to practice the truth. First, the central role of teaching in discipleship means that every believer in Jesus has the responsibility to know the truth. Discipleship is a fundamentally intellectual endeavor. where the followers of Jesus are taught the truth of God revealed in the word of God, the content of the scriptures, the great doctrines of the faith, the history of theology, and the practical keys to mortifying indwelling sin, battling temptation, and pressing on in personal holiness. Now, as soon as I say that, there are people who balk at the notion that maturity and growth in the Christian life could have anything to do with what they call head knowledge. There is a rampant anti-intellectualism that absolutely plagues the evangelical church. An intellectual laziness, an aversion to deep and focused thinking. See, in our culture of instant gratification, many professing Christians want every spiritual lesson to be microwavable, sort of served up, ready-made in easily digestible portions, something like a spiritual hot pocket. The moment you require them to quiet themselves, to gird up the loins of their minds, to examine and evaluate and reflect upon what a given text might be saying, or to follow a precise line of argumentation, to think through how one passage of scripture harmonizes with another, they check out. Where's my phone? Say, Mike, I'm just a simple guy, though, you know, I was never an academic type, but I wouldn't say that I'm all that bright. And to be honest, reading is a chore for me. I understand. But these are the truths of God. This is the way you get to know more of him. These are the things into which angels long to look. Angels who behold God in heaven and worship him without sin long to look into the mystery of the gospel. Look, Jesus' disciples didn't have PhDs, okay? They were fishermen. They were blue-collar guys, they say. And they confuse biblical simplicity with being simplistic. They imagine that if every thought in the Christian life is not immediately accessible to someone of below average intelligence with very little mental strain, well, then that thought must be corrupted by human reason and inherently unbiblical. But that attitude is plain contrary to the entirety of biblical teaching. Scripture actually commands us to think deeply. In first Timothy four, 15, Paul says, take pains with these things, be absorbed in them. He says in second Timothy two, seven, consider what I say or the ESV think over what I say, or even the NIV reflect on what I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. So by what means will the Lord give you understanding and everything when you consider, when you think over, when you reflect on the scripture that Paul has written? The 19th century Scottish expositor Alexander McLaren said, no subject worth studying opens itself up to the hasty glance. Or think of Philippians 4, 8. Paul commands us in that familiar text to dwell on whatever is true and right and honorable and pure. The word dwell calls for reflection, for intentional consideration, for pondering, for taking into account, letting your mind dwell on something. Paul used that word in Romans 6 11 when he exhorts the child of God. Even so, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Think of yourself this way, Christian. Meditate on these truths of the gospel so that you regard yourself as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. This is a patient deliberation and evaluation that allows one sufficient time and seriousness to come to grips with a certain truth and all of its implications, to roll it around in your soul, and to see what it means for your walk, for your life, for the way that you live it out. It's this kind of reflecting, considering, meditating type of thinking, this call to know the truth. that is commanded of every disciple of Jesus. Just as much as we are commanded not to steal or lie or murder or commit adultery, just so are we commanded to deep and disciplined thinking. And it's everywhere. Matthew 23, 37, the greatest commandment is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Or Romans 12 to do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Transformation into Christ likeness happens by the lifelong ongoing renewal of our minds. And Proverbs 23, verse seven puts it so simply, it says, for as a man thinks within himself, so he is. Pastor John goes so far as to say that, quote, careful thinking is the distinctive mark of the Christian faith. Careful thinking is the distinctive mark of the Christian faith. Why is that so? It's because the whole of the Christian life has as its ultimate aim the glory and praise and worship of God in Christ. And John chapter 4, you can't worship what you don't know. The joyful, eager, willing obedience to Christ, to which we are called, can only be produced by a heart that loves Christ. A heart that's singularly and faithfully devoted to him. And that kind of love and devotion to Jesus can only be produced by an accurate knowledge of Jesus as he actually is. You follow that? You cannot love and delight in what you haven't known as lovely or delightful. So John Calvin said, for unless there is knowledge present, it's not God that we worship, but a specter or a ghost. If we don't know God as he is, And we just decide to think thoughts about him and his work and his word that, oh, makes sense to us, but which are unmoored from his own revelation of himself in the scriptures. We don't worship God. We worship a figment of our own imagination. We worship an idol that we've fashioned in our image. Somebody says, I kind of like to think of God like I don't care. what you like to think of God like I care about who God actually is. And we don't know that by hearing your sensibilities. We know that by hearing what he said about himself. And so we need to know it and to know what we need to discipline ourselves to patient thinking, because it's only disciplined biblical thinking that issues in a love for Christ that then obeys him joyfully. In 2 Corinthians 11 3, Paul says to the believers there, I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Do you hear that? It's our minds that are led astray from devotion to Christ. This is why theology, this is why knowing the truth is of paramount importance in Christian discipleship. A sincere and pure devotion to Christ is founded upon sound doctrine. Because it's truth perceived in the mind that fires the furnace of our love to Jesus. Doctrine drives devotion. Theology is the only engine for doxology. And so we must have done with that anemic counterfeit of Christianity that disdains deep study and dedicated thinking. Gird up the loins of your mind, 1 Peter 1.13. Retain the pattern of sound words, 2 Timothy 1.13. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This means that discipleship is going to involve the teaching and learning of the great doctrines of the faith. In other words, disciples know theology. Take some of these categories of thought down as I go through them. Disciples know the truth about the nature and character of God. that he is incomprehensible and yet knowable, that he is infinite and eternal and immense, that he is immutable and impassable, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, that he's holy and righteous and loving and gracious and merciful and patient and sovereign. Disciples know the truth about the nature and character of Christ, of all the truths we celebrated in our first message in this series two weeks ago, that he is God, the son from all eternity, who took on a nature just as ours is yet without sin, that the single person of Jesus subsists in two distinct natures, divine and human, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. Disciples know that he is the one mediator between God and man who lived a perfectly righteous life of obedience to God's law in order to accomplish our righteousness and died a wrath-bearing substitutionary death to pay for our sins and who rose again on the third day in victory and who's coming again soon. Disciples know the truth about the Holy Spirit. That he's not merely a force or a power, but that he is the eternal third person of the Trinity, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. That he's the author of Scripture. That he is the giver of illumination. That he's the one who quickens spiritual life in regenerating grace. The one who baptizes believers into union with Christ and thereby communicates to us all the blessings purchased by Christ on the cross. That he fills and empowers the believer to live a holy life in obedience to all that Christ has commanded us. And that he gives gifts for the edification of the church. Disciples know the truth about the triunity of God. that he is one God, eternally subsisting in three co-equal and consubstantial persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Disciples know that the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding, that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. Disciples know the truth about man, that we are created in the image of God, but that we've fallen into sin. They know the truth about our universal sinfulness by virtue of our union with Adam, the representative head of all mankind, that the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to us, and therefore the corruption of sin is imparted to us, and that therefore by nature man is born into this world enslaved to sin. Our wills bound to serve sin and reject God, totally unable to commend ourselves to God. And therefore we are liable to his justice and deserve only his wrath. Disciples know the truth about salvation. that it is holy of God and none of man, that the Father sovereignly and unconditionally chooses from eternity past all those whom he will mercifully rescue from damnation. That salvation is accomplished through the perfectly effective atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for the sheep that his Father has given him. that the benefits of Christ's death are applied through the Holy Spirit's ministry of regeneration, which births in the newborn sinner the repentant faith that is the sole instrument of justification. That is, that man is justified, declared righteous before the bar of God's justice by faith alone, apart from any works of the law. that the justified sinner is adopted into the family of God and set apart, sanctified for holiness and service to the Lord all the days of his life, and that therefore he is progressively transformed into the image of God as he avails himself of the means of grace, and he's kept and preserved by the sovereign grace of God until he dies or until the Lord returns, at which time man is perfected unto glorification. and disciples know the truth about pursuing obedience to all that Christ commanded us, how to battle temptation, how to mortify sin, how to make progress in holiness, how to battle in prayer, how to come alongside one another in the fellowship of the local church. Friends, if we are going to carry out effective discipleship in the local church, we must teach one another to know the truth. You say, I don't know a lot of what you just ran through there. A lot of that's unfamiliar to me. That's why you need discipleship. That's what we're here to do, to teach one another. And there's so much more we can say, so much more truth that we must know. But I need to move on to a second responsibility that is entailed in the ministry of teaching every man with all wisdom. Not only are we to know the truth, We must also love the truth. We must love the truth. Earlier, I said that discipleship is a fundamentally intellectual endeavor, and it is. Knowing the truth is at the foundation of all spiritual growth and discipleship. But though discipleship is a fundamentally intellectual endeavor, it is not an ultimately intellectual endeavor. It doesn't stop with knowledge. Discipleship has not taken place simply when one has amassed a working notional knowledge of the history of redemption, the content of individual books of the Bible, theological terms and definitions, and the history of Christian thought. No, it's not enough to know the truth. We must teach every man to love the truth that he knows. The truth that we perceive in the mind must be brought to bear on our affections. It must be treasured in the heart. We must be a people affected by what we know because it is only out of a heart affected by the truth that genuine God honoring obedience flows. as much as we must repudiate an anti-intellectual emotionalism that seeks to bypass the mind in favor of intense feelings about God, even if they're devoid of revelational biblical substance, so also must we repudiate an anti-emotional intellectualism that dichotomizes head and heart, that separates them. You see, we want mind and heart. We want light and heat. We want truth and love. Because as much emphasis as Scripture places on the mind, it places as much emphasis on the heart. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In Matthew 15, verses eight and nine, Jesus says he's not interested in the worship of those who honor him with their lips, but whose hearts are far away from him. They may know the right things to say, but he says, if they don't love the truth, they know their worship is in vain. In Romans 6, 17, Paul thanks God that the Roman Christians became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which they were committed. And we would need to be obedient from the heart because we're not commanded only to behave righteously, we're commanded to be holy. We're commanded not only to do justly, but to love mercy, Micah 6, 8. We're commanded not only to give generously, but to give cheerfully, 2 Corinthians 9, 7. We're commanded not to covet. We're commanded to be content. We're commanded to hope in God, to fear God, to experience peace. We're commanded to be tenderhearted. We're commanded to be broken in spirit and contrite over sin. We're commanded to rejoice always. None of these heart attitudes can really take root in our souls, in our practice, if we don't love the truth that we know. And in 2 Thessalonians 2.10, Paul defines unbelievers as those who did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. This means that loving the truth is a mark of all genuine believers, and not loving the truth is a mark of unbelief. One of the most life-changing paragraphs I've ever read outside of the Bible was written by Jonathan Edwards. And he said this, God is glorified, not only by his glories being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that he might communicate and the creature receive his glory and that it might be received both by the mind and the heart. He that testifies his idea of God's glory does not glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approval of it and his delight in it. You see, God is more glorified by those who delight in his glory than those who merely understand his glory. Because in the truest sense, you can't truly understand the glory of God without delighting in him. Because he is supremely, objectively delightful. God is not the kind of being who can be known to a certain degree without being enjoyed to that same degree. To know God is to enjoy Him. To fail to enjoy Him is to fail to know Him. And to know His truth, therefore, must be to love His truth. To study God and His truth dispassionately, entirely unmoved by the stunning beauty that we behold in the face of Christ, would be woefully dishonoring to God. to gaze upon the most glorious exhibition of beauty and genius, and to be intellectually stimulated without being affected, moved in the depth of your soul, is to dishonor God. It's to treat as common that which is holy. And therefore, our discipleship in the local church, though it must begin with the mind, can never stop merely at instruction. We must exhort and admonish one another to love the truth we know. We must draw out one another's affections for the truth and ensure that not only that we understand, for example, the doctrine of God's unconditional election, but that we love it. but that we delight in it, that we see the glory and the beauty of a sovereign saving God, acting in the glory of beneficent freedom to rescue rebel sinners from deserved condemnation and to bring them into everlasting joy and peace with himself based on absolutely nothing about them. It's one thing to understand that's what God does, and it's another thing to have one's heart melted in front of him. To say, Lord, here I am a vile and undeserving sinner, and yet you, having all fullness in yourself, decides simply to overflow in goodness upon my miserable soul and to save me, owing to nothing but your sovereign freedom. Teaching every man with all wisdom involves cultivating godly affections in one another. It involves training, not merely students, but worshipers, not merely analysts, but admirers and adorers of the beauty of God. But you know, it doesn't stop there either. It's not enough to know the truth, though that's essential. It's not enough to love the truth, though that is essential. A third responsibility that lies upon each of our shoulders is to teach every man to practice the truth, to practice the truth. The Great Commission is not go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them all that I commanded you. It's close, but it's not quite it. It is, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. We are not merely to teach people, we are to teach people to obey. The goal of discipleship is to see every man presented complete in Christ, to see every Christian sanctified, to see their lives transformed. I mentioned Philippians 4, 8 earlier. If you didn't turn there, turn there now. It's just a page or two back of Colossians 1. In Philippians 4, 8, Paul calls the church to dwell on whatever is true and honorable and right and so on. But then in verse 9, he says this, the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. Verse eight, dwell on these things. Verse nine, practice these things. I love Martin Lloyd-Jones' comment on this passage. He says, you see the perfection of the apostle's method? In verse eight, he's dealt with the realm of thought. Ah, but the apostle knows the subtle danger is always confronting us. The danger of being content with theoretical knowledge. The danger of being satisfied with doctrine only. The danger of failing to put into practice what we know. You can be a great student even of the Bible and live a life that is utterly contrary to it. It is the masterpiece of Satan to make us put theory and practice into separate watertight compartments, to make men so interested in the book that they forget to apply its teaching. What you've seen, says Paul, practice. You see, some Christians are the intellectuals. They are the good students. They love devoting their minds to the study of the scriptures, to the study of exalted themes. It excites them. They can tell you all about the historical context of Obadiah at the drop of a hat. They can wax eloquent about nuanced doctrinal distinctions like infralapsarianism and superlapsarianism, just the longest words that we could possibly think of. They might have a great interest in apologetics and defending the faith against attacks from unbelievers. And yet, despite their intellectual commitment to studying the loftiest of themes, there are some who seem unable to make any progress in sanctification. They've become great theoreticians, but they don't seem to have the self-discipline, by God's grace, to translate all that knowledge into godly practice. It's as if they're content with the theory only. As if they believe the Christian life consists merely in thinking the right thoughts about things or having the right theology. But friends, and I want you to note this carefully, especially those of you who, like me, love theology. Theology not practiced is theology aborted. The whole purpose of theology, the whole purpose of discipline study, the whole purpose of thinking deeply is to have the truth mold your affections, to have your affections inform your will, and to have your will spur you on to love and good deeds so that you might practice what you know, so that your lives might be shaped and driven by the truth, so that you might worship Jesus the way he is worthy of. so that you might build up the church in a way that he is pleased with. We are to teach one another to obey. And this is everywhere confirmed by scripture. James 1.22, prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James says, the man who hears the word and doesn't do it's like the man who looks in a mirror, goes away from it and forgets his own reflection. Wait a minute, what do I look like again? But the one who practices the truth, James says, not having become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. This man. Or in John 13, 17, Jesus speaks about his teaching and he tells his disciples, if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. Which implies what? If you know these things and don't do them, you are not blessed. And in the final verses of Matthew 7, as Jesus brings the Sermon on the Mount to a close, what does he say? Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the storm comes, and great is the fall of that house." The Puritan Thomas Brooks, in his excellent book, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, summarizes this thought by saying, know that it is not the knowing man. Nor the talking man, nor the reading man, but the doing man that at last will be found the happiest man. It's not the knowing man, the talking man or the reading man, but the doing man who is at last found the happiest man. We are to teach every man with all wisdom so that they might practice the truth. But this teaching to obey doesn't merely happen by telling students what to do or how to live. It involves living life alongside them. It involves moving from tell me what to show me how. One pastor says this, what happens in a discipling relationship requires more than classroom teaching like we do every Sunday. It requires the kind of instruction that occurs through an apprenticeship at a job or with a personal trainer or coach. An apprentice learns by listening and watching and participating, little by little, with more responsibility being earned over time. He goes on to say, discipling is inviting them to imitate you, making your trust in Christ an example to be followed. It requires you to be willing to be watched and then folding people into your life so that they actually do watch. I don't know if I want people to imitate me. I've got some significant problems. Well, exactly. And so if the desire of your heart isn't sufficient to say, simply because I want to honor Jesus, I need to get my life in order. At the very least, let it be, I've got to minister to my brothers and sisters. I've got to show to them something that they can follow. Now, it ought to be both, and it ought to be in that order. But fight the idea of, I don't know if I want somebody to watch me with, well, then let me get into gear then. Let me have a life worth watching. The task of discipleship, of teaching Christians to practice the truth, requires that the discipler and the disciples spend time with one another. Mark chapter 3, verses 13 and 14, Mark makes a comment about Jesus calling his disciples. He says, and he went up on the mountain and summoned those whom he himself wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed 12 so that they would be with him, and so that he could send them to preach. so that they would be with him. In Acts 16.3, Luke records Paul's calling of Timothy to join him on his missionary journey, sort of Timothy's call to discipleship under Paul. And the text says the same thing. Paul wanted this man to go with him. See, at the very heart of discipleship is being with one another. And so as we aim to engage in effective discipleship in the local church, we're just going to have to resolve to make it a priority to be with one another, to spend time with one another, to be in one another's lives, to walk through life together. There just aren't any shortcuts. I want the blessings of discipleship, but, you know, I'm tired this week. I worked hard and I just need to lay low. What do you want? Nothing from nothing equals nothing. We spend time together because it's in that context that the discipler can model biblical obedient living for the disciple, that he can be an example, which is another key concept in discipleship, the power of example. And Philippians 4 and 9 addresses that too. I think you're still there. The command to practice these things comes at the end of Philippians 4, 9. At the beginning, he says, the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things. See, he's calling them to practice the things they had seen in him. They didn't only learn and receive instruction in these things, they've observed these things with their own eyes in the patterns and practices of Paul's life lived out in front of them. They saw that he didn't only talk the talk, but walk the walk, that he lived and ministered in integrity because they were able to observe the very things he preached were the things that he practiced. So for example, in Philippians 1.30, he says, they were now experiencing the same conflict which they had seen to be in him. They saw him suffer, and so he was able to call on the power of that example to now equip them to suffer. Or a bit later in Philippians 3 17 brethren join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. And in first Corinthians 11 1 he says be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. Living life together so that we can be an example to one another of practicing the truth is indispensable to discipleship. Pastor John writes, perhaps the single most important aspect of spiritual leadership is having a godly life to emulate. Personal example illustrates biblical principles in action, showing how they should be lived out. Or Thomas Brooks summed that up simply by saying example is the most powerful rhetoric. In other words, you can lay out principles and inform men and women of their duty, and you can use the most eloquent oratory to do it. But the most powerful rhetoric, the most powerful form of persuasion, the most effective form of discipleship is that of example. Watch me, and you do what I do. We know the principles laid out in the Scripture well enough in most cases, but in order to get those principles from our heads to our hands, We need to see how they translate into action in the theater of a real, tangible, godly example lived out right in front of us. We benefit so much more when we move from tell me how or excuse me, tell me what to show me how. And I'll quote Pastor John again. He says, you need to be able to say to people, follow my life, see what I do, see how I talk, see how I act in my most public and my most private moments and all in between. My life is an open book. An open life with no compromise, that's critical, John says, in being an example. You need to be among the people, with the people, in and around the people. You don't live an isolated, privatized life. You let them see the work of Christ in you in every aspect of life. And that is the great challenge for us as we seek to implement, go on implementing biblical discipleship at Grace Church. If we're going to have any hope of presenting every man complete in Christ, we must faithfully proclaim Christ to our brothers and sisters. And proclaiming Christ means to admonish every man and to teach every man with all wisdom. What do we teach? We teach one another to know the truth, to gird up the loins of our minds, to devote ourselves to the careful study of the scriptures and thereby to arrive at sound doctrine. And we need to love the Lord our God with all our minds so that our minds will not be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. We need to recognize that careful thinking is the distinctive mark of the Christian faith. And so we must devote ourselves to being good students of the Lord Jesus. We must also teach one another to love the truth that we know. We can't be content with intellectual notions that don't affect our hearts. We must not be satisfied with seeing God's glory only. We must rejoice in it. We must delight in it. And if our hearts are dull and backward so that our affections for God and his truth don't catch up to our knowledge for God and his truth, well then we need to go to work on our hearts. We need to do as the hymn says, to tune our hearts to sing his grace. We can't merely analyze and assess. We have to admire and adore. We can't just be students. We have to be worshipers. And then finally, we must teach one another to practice the truth in teaching one another to obey all that Christ commanded. We need to live life alongside one another. our lives as open books for our brothers and sisters to see so that they can observe how we fight sin, how we treat our spouses, how we discipline our children, how we respond to failures in confident hope in the grace of God. We need to observe faithfulness in the lives of the saints more mature than us, and we need to model faithfulness to saints less mature than us. This is the call of discipleship, the health and the growth and the purity of the bride of Christ depend on it. And so may God give grace that we might be faithful to answer that call. But the beginning of discipleship, of course, is following after Jesus and saving faith. Perhaps you're here and you are an unbeliever. Still, you've been associated with the outward trappings of religion. You've been around the church and maybe even familiar with the scriptures, but you don't know the saving grace of Christ in the depth of your soul. You're still clinging to some sin that you just won't let go of. You won't repent of or you're clinging to trust in some righteousness that you think that you've ginned up, whether it's something you do do or don't do. Well, I go to church, I give, I read my Bible, or I don't kill anybody or commit adultery or steal, therefore God is cool with me. No, if you're trusting in yourself at all as any part of the ground of your righteousness before God, you're outside of Christ. You're not his disciple because Jesus will share the glory of saving your soul with no one but himself. He says, I'll do all or I'll do none at all. And so you need to turn from your unrighteousness. You need to lay aside those fruitless sins that get you nothing but bitterness. And you need to lay aside any trust in your own righteousness, which is no true righteousness at all. Scripture calls it filthy rags. And you need to turn away from both and run straight to Christ and say, all my hope, all my confidence to avail with me before in the courtroom of heaven lies upon your blood and your righteousness, Lord. your substitutionary death and your obedient life. There are all my forgiveness and righteousness. And you come to him in saving faith and he will have you. You come after him and you begin to follow him and you're gathered into this wonderful body of Christ, this family of God that labors to see Christ fully formed in you so that you might be as pleasing to Christ as he desires. That is the whole of what life is about. And again, for the brothers and sisters on that path, take strength from that grace, that gospel grace of no work of your own. that gets you into this relationship and stand on the fact that you're accepted for Christ's sake and where you fail and where you fall short. He has measured up and you take strength from the grace that you've received here and you put that to work on the ground on Monday morning, on Sunday afternoon. Because that is where blessing is found. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would seal your word to our hearts, that you would make it effectual in the lives of your people, that you would save those who are lost, calling them into the fold of Christ, and that you would give us grace as your people to live in a way that he is worthy of, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. For more information about the ministry of the Grace Life Pulpit, visit at www.thegracelifepulpit.com. Copyright by The Grace Life Pulpit. All rights reserved.