How can we at The Bridge fulfill our vision to “glorify God by making disciples who make disciples?” Listen in to find out!
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How To Multiply Disciples
2 Timothy 2:1-2
As Paul writes this letter to Timothy he will say, “The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” In view of the fact that Paul was living under the shadow of his imminent execution, it was imperative that he make some arrangements for the preservation of the truth, and its accurate transmission to succeeding generations. Therefore, he charges young Timothy to preach, protect, and pass on the treasure, the precious gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen to his words in 2 Tim. 1:13-14, “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” Retain the standard of sound words! Guard the treasure! In these words, Paul is exhorting Timothy to protect the gospel from corruption. He must hold fast to the truth, and make sure that he passes it on in a pure state to others.
In verses 15-18 Paul tells Timothy why it is so important that he protect and pass on a pure gospel to others. All who were in Asia had turned away from him. The only bright spot was that Onesiphorus had sought out Paul in prison, and had refreshed him, even though it had become dangerous to take a public stand for Jesus Christ.
Having digressed just a little bit to speak of all in Asia, and Onesiphorus, Paul returns to the subject at hand of protecting and passing on this treasure of the gospel. In 2:1 he says, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Timothy, you in contrast to all those who have defected, and like Onesiphorus who was loyal to me in my hour of greatest need, you be strong. Never mind what those in Asia have done – you are to be different. You are to be strong! Now Timothy was naturally weak. Paul called him to be strong. Timothy was naturally timid and fearful. Paul called him to be brave, and bold. Paul didn’t simply tell Timothy to be strong. That would have been absurd. You might as well tell a snail to be quick or an elephant to fly as to tell a weak man to be strong or a timid man to be bold. You are asking him to do the impossible. But Paul told him to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The verb “be strong” is a present, passive, imperative verb. That may not sound very important to you, but believe me, it tells us a lot! Because it is an imperative, this means that it was a command, not a suggestion. Because it was in the present tense, this means it was to go on happening continually. And because it was passive, this means it was something that was to happen to Timothy. So, to put this all together we might paraphrase it something like this: “Timothy, I command you to be continually strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Paul was not telling Timothy to grit his teeth and clench his fists and set his jaw. No, Timothy could only obey this command as he looked away from himself and put his complete faith and reliance on Christ and His grace to give him strength when he had none of his own.
But why did Timothy need to be strong? Verse 2 tells us it was because of the ministry to which he had been called. Paul was charging him to entrust the standard of sound words to faithful men who would be able to teach others also. Notice the phrase in verse 2, “which you have heard from me.” Paul mentioned that very phrase word for word in 1:13. What was he referring to there? It was the standard of sound words, referring to the body of apostolic doctrine that Paul had entrusted to him. In 1:14 Paul goes on to describe it as the “treasure which has been entrusted to you.” Paul is charging Timothy to take that body of apostolic doctrine, that treasure entrusted to him which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to entrust it to faithful men.
In 4:21, Paul tells him, “Make every effort to come before winter.” So, because Timothy would be leaving the church at Ephesus, and traveling to Paul where there was sure to be suffering in store for him, he needed to make sure that he entrusted this pure gospel to faithful men before he left. Now, who were these “faithful men” of verse 2? No doubt, Paul has in mind the Elders in the church at Ephesus. These were the men who were responsible for purity of doctrine within the church.
Now, notice in verse 2 that Paul envisions 4 stages in passing on the truth of the apostolic gospel from one generation to the next.
- God entrusted His gospel to Paul – “the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted” (1Tim.1:11)
- Paul now entrusts this gospel to Timothy – “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2Tim.1:14).
- Timothy is now to entrust this gospel to faithful men.
- These faithful men are to teach others this precious gospel.
In verse 2 you have 4 generations: Paul – Timothy – Faithful Men – Others
Now, what I have done for you thus far, is simply give you an exposition of the truth of 2 Tim.2:1-2. A principle that I see emerging from this text is that of spiritual multiplication.
Take a look at this chart that Oleg is going to put up on the wall.
Paul reproduced himself in several men, Timothy, Titus, and Epaphras, among others. As Paul poured himself into these men, they in turn, were to pour themselves into faithful men, who would pour themselves into others. What we see taking place is the multiplication of disciples. Let’s just assume for the moment, that Paul only worked with 3 men, Timothy, Titus, and Epaphras. If each of those men worked with three faithful men, who taught three others, we have gone from 1 man to 27 men, all within 4 generations of disciples. If Paul had taught all 27 men himself, this would be an example of addition. He would be adding each man he taught to the combined total of those he had already taught. But Paul didn’t teach each man. He taught men who taught other men who taught other men. In that way, Paul could effectively multiply the impact of his ministry many times over.
So, this morning, I want to think with you about the Process, the Preventatives and the Power of Spiritual Multiplication, and then get down to the nitty gritty brass tacks of how we can see disciples multiplied here at The Bridge.
1. The Process of Spiritual Multiplication
We See Multiplication In Human Reproduction
If Eve were to bear a child every year from the time she was 20 years old until the time she was 920 years old, the most children she could have would be 900 children. But if Eve had many children who each had many children, in 900 years there could conceivably be several million people on the earth. Now, let’s say that you and your spouse are able to bear 10 children. That’s a lot of children by today’s standards. But if every one of your children were born sterile, it would be an example of addition. If, however, every one of your children, had more children, who had more children, this would be an example of multiplication. The very first command God gave man in Genesis 1:28 was to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” God called him to reproduce after his own kind. It is not just the will of God that we are fruitful and multiply in the physical realm, but also in the spiritual realm.
Every Child of God is to Multiply
A person is born again when the gospel is united with the power of the Holy Spirit in a human heart, and new life is brought forth. John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” When a baby is born into the world, what is God’s normal plan for him? That baby is to grow to maturity, be joined to another in marriage, and then reproduce by bringing other babies into the world. It is God’s desire that every person born into His family reproduce and multiply. Humanly speaking, it’s not just the wealthy and educated people who are able to have babies. The poor and ignorant are also able to have babies. And in the spiritual realm, it’s not just the pastors and elders who are able to reproduce, but all God’s people, if they are spiritually healthy, may reproduce and be involved in multiplying disciples!
Well, what is the responsibility of every parent for his child? He’s responsible to feed that child, care for it, love it, and protect it. So too, God desires that we take up our responsibility, not only of spreading the gospel so that new children are born again, but then taking on the responsibility of nurturing, protecting, and training that new believer to grow in grace.
2. The Preventatives of Spiritual Multiplication
So, if it is God’s plan for every Christian to be involved in spiritual reproduction and multiplication, why are there so many Christians who don’t? We could probably list many reasons, but I’m just going to give four. What is it that prevents people from reproducing physically?
1. Lack of Physical Intimacy: If a woman never marries and is intimate with a man, she can’t ever reproduce. Physical reproduction requires physical intimacy between a man and a woman. Likewise, if we do not have an intimate relationship with God, we won’t reproduce spiritually. Jesus spent the bulk of his three year ministry training the apostles. But why? Why didn’t he just go nuts with mass evangelism, and preach to the masses of the world? Because He knew that multiplication is far more powerful than addition. Yes, He only started with 12 men, and one of those proved to be an imposter, but in the long run, those 11 men went out, and started a movement which has been growing and filling the earth ever since. So, what was Jesus’ plan? Well, let’s take a look at Mark 3:13-15, “And He went up to the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.” Did you notice the order. He appointed the 12, first to be with Him, and then to be sent out to preach. After Jesus appointed 12 men to be His apostles, the first order of business was just to be with Him. They were to spend time with Christ, live with Him, watch Him, ask Him questions, learn from Him, and then they were to go out and preach. In other words, they would not multiply until they had been strengthened by fellowship with Him.
This is why the great need with a new believer is to help them to grow in intimacy and an ever deepening love relationship with Jesus Christ. The new believer needs to learn to walk with God, and feed on His Word, and commune with God in prayer. As he grows, and his intimacy with Christ develops, he will be enabled to reproduce. This is why we urge young believers to memorize Scripture, to learn to meditate on the Word, to pray through Scripture, and to be regularly involved in a local church. My friend, you will never reproduce spiritually if you don’t develop an intimate walk with Jesus Christ. I’m talking about regularly and consistently communing with Him, and learning to draw upon His grace.
2. Immaturity: God has designed it in the physical realm, that a baby must grow to a certain level of maturity before it can reproduce. That’s why we don’t see 5 year old girls having babies. And that’s a good thing, isn’t it? What in the world would we do if every small child was able to have a baby? There wouldn’t be enough parents to take care of all the little children. No, it is God’s will that a baby grows up before it reproduces. The same is true in the spiritual realm as well. Ordinarily, it takes some time for a young believer to learn to commune with God, and walk with Him in intimacy, and feed upon His Word, so that they are in a position to be able to reproduce and help that young believer to be established. The writer to the Hebrews says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb.5:12-14). Did you notice that writer believes that these Christians should have been teachers by now, but instead they were still babes, immature. They should have been reproducing and establishing younger believers in the word of truth, but they still needed to be spoon fed themselves.
If you have become a Christian, but have remained spiritually immature, it’s no wonder if you are not reproducing. It’s God’s will that you go from being a babe in Christ, to a young man, to an older, mature believer, who reproduces and then brings your spiritual babes to maturity.
3. Environmental Toxins: Another reason why some people never reproduce physically is because of toxins that are taken into the body such as glues, chemical dusts, pesticides and tobacco. In fact, cigarette smokers are 60% more likely to be infertile than non-smokers. So, what would the toxins be in our spiritual life than render us infertile? The world. John says, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever” (1Jn.2:15-17). Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom.12:2). James says, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:4-5).
Friends, you take in deadly toxins, when you spend all your time in front of the TV, or listening to ungodly music, or playing computer games, or reading worldly magazines, or going to poisonous web sites. If you breathe in the values of the world over and over and over, don’t surprised if it acts as poison and toxins in you to make you spiritually sterile. If you want to reproduce, you need to separate yourself from sin, and devote yourself to communion with Jesus Christ.
4. Disease: Diabetes, thyroid disorders, and adrenal disease can all render someone infertile. So too, sin which we allow to remain in our lives, unconfessed, and unrepented of, acts as a disease, and can render us spiritually sterile. We will never be spiritually healthy, and grow to spiritual maturity, if we do not confess and forsake our sins. Oh, we must fight sin on every front, because if we don’t, it is like a disease which will take over our bodies. It will rob us of our joy, of fellowship with God, of assurance of salvation, and of a good conscience. If we don’t fight sin with all our might, it will render us useless and unfruitful in our Christian lives (2Pet.1:8).
What about you? Have you allowed sin into your life? Have you made a truce with it? You say, “Oh, it’s just a little sin. It’s no big deal.” Every sin we don’t kill is a big deal, and will rob you of true spiritual riches. If you want to live a fruitful life, reproducing, and leading new believers into a life of joy and victory, protect yourself! Protect yourself from the power of sin that will check all your desires for a life that glorifies God.
3. The Power of Spiritual Multiplication
Let’s take a checkerboard, and put 1 grain of rice on the first square, and the for each new square we’ll double it. On the 2nd square we have 2, and on the 3rd we have 4 grains. How many grains of rice would you have on the 64th square? You would cover the entire nation of the United States 17 feet deep!
Let’s take another example. Which would you rather have: a great evangelist like Billy Graham who is able to win 1,000 people to Christ every day of his life for 50 straight years, OR 1 disciple who makes another reproducing disciple every year, so that all the disciples continue to make another reproducing disciple every year? How long would it take to win every person to Christ on the planet, if that were possible, if someone could lead 1,000 people to Christ every day? It would take 19,800 years! Well, what if you could lead 10,000 people to Christ every day? It would take 1,982 years, (almost the same period of time from the birth of Christ till now). Well, what if you could do the impossible, and lead 100,000 people to Christ every day of the year for 50 years? It would still take you 192 years! Now, how long would it take our 1 guy who multiplies himself every year with another one who multiplies himself? It would take 33 years! In fact, in 34 years, we would have multiplied to 17 billion people. Folks, we only have 7 billion people on the planet now! Can you see the incredible power of spiritual multiplication?
Of course, not every person we win to Christ and disciple will go on to be a reproducer themselves, but wouldn’t it be great to aim for that? This is the principle that the Navigators have been living out since 1933, and I think is why they have been able to accomplish so much around the world over the last 80 years. May God help us to see a movement of multiplication of disciples begin here at The Bridge.
Application
Let’s draw out some specific application for us here at The Bridge. Our vision is “to glorify God by making disciples who make disciples.” I think that most of you know our vision, and could almost recite it in your sleep. But do you know how to practically go about fulfilling the vision? I could have entitled this message, “How To Fulfill Our Vision.”
Well, to help us see how to multiply disciples, I have come up with a little chart with Oleg’s help. Think of these 4 squares like the four bases on a baseball diamond.
We start out at home plate with a lost person. This person needs the gospel, so what do we do? We evangelize them. Jesus commanded us, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and is baptized will be saved; he who disbelieves will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16). We help them to see their sin and need of Christ, and then show them the greatness of the Savior God has provided for them. If they respond in faith, they then become a new disciple. Now, what is the vehicle we have in place at The Bridge to do evangelism together? It’s our missional communities. These mid-week groups are designed to be a place where we can be equipped and inspired to reach the lost by working together to that end. In addition, to the outreaches of our missional communities, we have regular street witnessing, open air preaching and door to door ministry going on regularly.
OK, so let’s assume that someone has responded in faith and repentance to the gospel. What now? Well, that new disciple needs to become an established disciple. Col. 2:6-7 says, “As you therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” This new disciple needs to be rooted, built up and established in faith. So, how are we going to do that? The answer is through one-on-one discipling relationships. Sean and I have been busy writing a discipleship manual, that will enable anyone with a willing heart to be able to establish a new believer in the faith. The manual will consist of 4 modules.
- Module 1: Pursuing Christ. The Gospel – Repentance and Faith – Assurance of Salvation – Abiding in the Word Pt. 1 & 2 – Prayer
- Module 2: Loving God. The Attributes of God Pt. 1 & 2 – Delighting in God –– Obeying Jesus – Resisting Temptation – Union with Christ – Walking By The Spirit
- Module 3: Cultivating Godliness. Fellowship – Commitment to a Local Church – The Use of Time – Money and Possessions – Humility – Forgiveness
- Module 4: Multiplying Disciples. Fasting – Contact Evangelism – Relationship Evangelism – The Cost of Discipleship – Reproducing Disciples – World Vision
So, as you can see, this is a fairly intensive process, that is going to take some time to work through. For every session there is about 5 pages to work through. There are Scriptures to memorize, and tasks to complete. And at every state, the older discipling partner is to help the younger disciple to learn to put these principles into practice. This establishing process will probably take from six months to a year.
Actually, right now there are 3 of us that are already taking young believers through this material. I’m working with two young men, Debbie is working with two different women, and Oleg is working with another young believer. So, this is how I envision us at The Bridge establishing new disciples in the faith. If the Lord uses you to lead another to Christ, chances are good that you are the one that should begin working with this new disciple.
Well, what do you do if this new disciple is not applying themselves to grow in faith? What if they don’t get into the Word, don’t memorize Scripture, don’t pray, don’t share their faith. There may come a time when you have to lovingly let them know that you can’t take your time to work with them unless they are willing to apply themselves. Remember, Paul told Timothy to entrust the truth to “faithful men.” If the person you are working with turns out to be an unfaithful person, you may need to stop meeting with them, until they get serious about growing spiritually. We only have so much time, and life is short. We need to invest our lives in those that are going to be diligent in their spiritual lives.
OK, so now this new disciple is now an established disciple on second base. What’s next? Well, hopefully the new disciple has begun to speak to others of Christ, and is praying for someone they can begin to pour into. If the Lord answers that prayer and brings someone into your life, then even a new disciple can begin to lead another into the truths of God’s Word. Remember, that if they get stuck, they can always get a hold of their discipling partner who is always available to coach them through this process.
However, there is always more we need to become trained in and to understand in order to be used in effective ministry. For example, perhaps the Lord is calling someone here to be an Elder, another to be an Evangelist, another to be a Biblical Counselor, another to be a Worship Leader. They are going to need more ongoing training to be fully equipped to minister in those areas. Eph.4:11-12 says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
So, how are we going to make sure that this equipping takes place? Well, we have established an LTD group that has now been meeting since February. There are only three men in this group at the present time. We meet monthly on a Saturday for four hours, and then once a week for an hour before work. We read a book during that month, we memorize Scripture, we write papers, and a different person brings a devotion to the monthly meeting each time. It is our goal to become better equipped as workers in God’s vineyard.
The final leg of the journey from third base to home, we simply call Entrusting. This is where we entrust an Equipped Disciple with ministry of whatever kind. It may be serving as an Elder or Deacon, or Counselor, or Teacher. But we finish where we started – at home plate where the lost are. In other words, the goal of all of this is to make disciples who make disciples. The process is designed to take a lost person all the way to where they are an equipped servant of Christ who is making and establishing disciples of their own. If we follow this model, we will begin to multiply disciples. If we get sidetracked or discouraged and give up, we won’t multiply disciples.
So, let me ask you, where are you on this chart?
1) If You Are Not a Follower of Christ: ask one of us if we will help you to understand the gospel. We would be delighted to sit down with you, open the Bible, answer your questions, and show you God’s way of reconciling sinful people to Himself.
2) If you are brand new Disciple, get involved by finding discipling partner who will help you get established in faith.
3) If you are being established in the faith, begin to pray that God would give you a man or woman that you can begin to work with to help establish them in the faith.
4) If you are an established disciple, get more training through LTD, or specialized mentoring from a more mature disciple so that you can continue to grow and become more effective in the work of the kingdom.
May God gives us much grace to put our hands to the plow and not look back.
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