Discipleship in the Glorious Church

David W Palmer

The glorious church—the pure bride—for whom Jesus is returning will be matured in all aspects of following their Lord. One of the commissions Jesus gave the church before his full ascension to heaven was to make disciples:

(Matthew 28:18–20 NKJV) 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.

Jesus’s instruction to “make disciples” was spoken in the “all authority” he had just announced. Therefore, this directive spoken by the Lord and King has the supernatural and divine power of self-fulfilment. In other words, this has to come to pass. Our Lord Jesus fully believes and expects, when he returns for his church, that she will be making disciples—followers of him that are also part of his glorious church / spotless bride.

To see what “make disciples” means, let’s first look at how Jesus did this himself. The first mention of disciples in the New Testament is when Jesus taught the passage we have come to know as the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5–7):

(Matthew 5:1–2 NKJV) And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. (2) Then He opened His mouth and taught them ...

The word, “disciple,” simply means pupil or learner; hence the context of its first mention in scripture is a teaching session. But we also see that Jesus taught his disciples in an on-the-job apprenticeship:

(Matthew 4:18–20 NKJV) And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. (19) Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (20) They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

(Matthew 8:23 NKJV) Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.

Having been a trainer for a portion of my life; as I read these passages, I realize that Jesus offered his apprentices a learning contract: “follow me, and I will make you …” He said that if they fulfilled their part of the contract, “follow me,” he would fulfil his part: “I will make you …” They didn’t have to pay fees; they didn’t have to obtain visas or fill in entry forms; they simply had to follow him. He then would fulfil a promise that I could never have made as a trainer: “I will make you …” Jesus is amazing, and he is supernatural; no ordinary person can “make” their students into anything. They can only offer training and assessment; the trainees can take that and make themselves competent by learning and applying what is taught, imitating what they see, or practicing what they are shown. But Jesus can and will make us into what he has called us to be … if we simply follow him.

But what is also very important is that Jesus brought them into a personal, relational closeness so they could know him and learn from his person—the way he operated, related, prayed, walked, and disciplined his life:

(Mark 3:13–15 NKJV) And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. (14) Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, (15) and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

To fulfil the resurrected Lord’s instruction to make disciples, we are going to have to do what he did—make disciples/apprentices his way:

(John 20:19–21 NKJV) ... Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” … “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Jesus was successful at making disciples. But now that he has ascended and the Holy Spirit is in the church, we are blessed to see in the Bible how this works in the current set up. For example, God’s word faithfully describes how the apostle Paul made disciples. The first instance is that of him making Timothy into a disciple of Jesus:

(1 Timothy 1:2 NKJV) “To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul says that Timothy was his “son” in the faith. This means love, training, and correction; it also means living in close enough relationship that Timothy could observe Paul in all aspects of following Jesus—close enough to watch and imitate like a loving son with a true father.

Paul’s example in making disciples is expanded in Acts:

(Acts 19:8–10 BSB) Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. (9) But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. (10) This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

The outcome of what the Holy Spirit led Paul to do here is astounding. He began in a synagogue; but then, after being persecuted there, he took his disciples into a school classroom—the “lecture hall of Tyrannus.” The end result was that “everyone who lived in the province … heard the word of the Lord.” It’s difficult to think of a better outcome than this, despite beginning with opposition. So, what was Paul’s approach; what changed from the synagogue to the classroom?

In the public meeting of the synagogue, we see that Paul was “arguing persuasively” for three months. This seemed to result in a deepening division between those who wanted to be Jesus’s disciples and those who didn’t. The division became so overt and intense that it erupted into persecution; they “maligned the Way.”

Consequently, Paul took his disciples into a different venue. Simultaneously his approach shifted from, “arguing persuasively,” to, “daily discussions.” This implies that the disciples were able to listen, ask questions, challenge ideas, and learn through conversation as well as discourse. Plus, this was “daily.” in other words, they had time to take in the learning and mind-renewal in bite sizes—one mouthful at a time, so to speak. This allowed them the time to add it to their lives, not simply be an ear-tickling speech or intellectual entertainment.

As each disciple learned by his or her own peculiar learning style—discourse, discussion, intuition, visual, or by doing, etc.—their hearts were filled with God’s word. Then, as Jesus said, out of the abundance of their hearts their mouths spoke. Hence, “everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.”

This must be the level of disciple-making that Jesus is looking for; it certainly produces fruit.

Even when Paul was in a personal lockdown, the Lord still showed him how to continue the commission of making disciples:

(Acts 28:30–31 NKJV) Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, (31) preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Today, as we rapidly become the glorious church, one aspect of it that will be more and more evident is the fulfilment of Jesus’s authoritative commission that we make disciples. Being disciples of Jesus ourselves, we first need to “be with him”; and then to teach and make others competent at following him, through classroom and on-the-job training. Walking in Paul’s footsteps, we need to see them as sons, and our role as being like true fathers—loving, encouraging, teaching, training, imparting vision, and correcting them in love. We can also emulate his Holy Spirit-led example of daily discussions—allowing disciples to learn through conversation, discourse, prayerful contemplation, music, and by doing, etc.—on the job practice and opportunity.

Do you have someone you are discipling? If you don’t, like Paul, the Holy Spirit can give you a plan—that fits into your current life—for reaching and making disciples: a public meeting, a classroom, a house, on line, a mountain side, in a boat, on the road, or on-the-job. Be like Jesus, allow them to be with you, observe you; and give them on-the-job opportunities to be involved, where you can coach and correct them as needed. Seek his wisdom today; then begin the great adventure of fulfilling Jesus’s commission to make disciples from all or any nation.