The Apostles Commissioned

Discipleship According to God's own heart. 

You and I are commissioned just as the disciples were. Let us go and make disciples. 

Am I willing to make disciples according to the Lord's Command?

The Lord Jesus commanded: Go ye therefore and make disciples. 

Jesus gave us the command; "Go ye therefore and make disciples".  It is our responsibility to make the decision whether or not I want to and will accept to do it and obey His command.
John 20:21 (NKJV) 21 "So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Mathew 28:18-20 (NKJV) "18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen."

Until the next lesson, may the Lord Jesus be with you.  

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

15th Lesson: Discipleship According to God's Own Heart

Jesus Christ is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and disciples are His workers here on earth.

As it is written in the title of this chapter of discipleship the human ministry has been given to the disciples; that is, all those that have decided to give their life to Jesus and follow Him. But, the leadership always will belong to the LORD of lords and KING of kings = JESUS CHRIST. Today we will dig into this subject in more specific ways.

The Great Commission Mathew 28:

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go [c]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen."

As the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: "Go, make disciples of all nations", He commissioned them. At this point the Lord Jesus was making it clear that His human ministry of Jesus here on earth had come to an end. He gave them the command to proceed with the work that He had begun. Jesus transferred at this point the responsibility of maintaining the legacy exactly the way He had structured it. 

John 20:21 (NKJV) “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

John 17:18  (NKJV) “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

In John 20:19-23 The Apostles Commissioned 

19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were [e]assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

In these verses, John describes as Jesus commissioned them. Jesus taught them during three years the principles, the laws, the values of doing the mission as His Father had taught Him. In John chapter 17, we see this very well described how Jesus prays for them and those that would believe through them. The disciples were named apostles by the Lord, and He ordained them to take on the work of discipleship that gave birth to the Church. 

Then Jesus instructs the disciples to remain in Jerusalem as we read in Luke24 and in Acts 1:

"Stay therefore in Jerusalem, till ye be clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). 

The Holy Spirit Promised

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be [c]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

It was a simple command, and the Lord made it clear that they needed to follow His instructions. They needed the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, since the Spirit is the agent that accomplishes all and any work. The strongest feature of the book of Acts of the Apostles (where Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled is the fact that the Holy Spirit was sent upon them to work through them. God is in control, it is His work through us and not our work.  

With this commanded ‘go ye therefore’ Jesus made it clear that His earthly ministry was fulfilled, and now He was sending His disciples to continue this work.  If we analyze the book of Acts itself, we will conclude that it is a continuity of the Gospels; because from the moment that the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell in them, God chose to work through them from there on. 

God is the authority, and the Bible gives us a very clear picture of the same. The Lord Jesus reigns in heaven and on earth according to Scriptures, and now He is working through the Body of Christ here on earth. Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, according to Romans 8:33:34:

 Romans 8:33-34 (NKJV) “33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

"And he shall reign forever in the house of Jacob, and his kingdom shall have no end" (Luke 1:33)

These verses make it clear that the Leadership always will be in God’s Hand, but we can learn that He gave His discipleships the work here on earth that He had started; and now Jesus Christ works through us the work that He began. 

Homework = Scripture memory: 

Be sure to commit this passage to memory before moving on to the next lesson. Then, practice reciting it repeatedly throughout this course. 

Mathew 28:19-20 "19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen."

Personal goal:  How do you want to make a difference in this world??  Who do you want to reflect? Let's be a disciple according to God's own heart.

Next lesson we will continue to study this subject,

Until then, may the Lord Jesus be with you.  

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1