THE CALL TO

DISCIPLESHIP

Lesson 4 for April 25, 20

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord! For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish
which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were
partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch
men. (Luke 5:8-10)

We can
understan
d how
discipleshi
p works by
studying
the story
of the
miraculou
s catch of
fish.

THE CALL
TO
Obeying the word of Jesus: at
FISHING
Your word I will let down the
Man

God

net. (Luke 5:5)

Accepting Gods holiness:
Depart from me, O Lord! (Luke
5:8)
Accepting my sinfulness: I am a
sinful man. (Luke 5:8)
Leading, caring and protecting:
Do not be afraid. (Luke 5:10)
Preparing me to be a disciple: I
will make you fishers of men.
(Matthew 4:19)

THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and
from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.
(Luke 6:13)

Apostle means one who is sent

away. Jesus picked the twelve
apostles to send them to preach
the Gospel as ambassadors of the
Kingdom.
Why did Jesus choose those
twelve men? Was there
something special in them?
We dont know for sure which was
the occupation of half of them
before following Jesus. Four of
them were fishermen; one of
them was tax collector and one of
them was a revolutionary.
They were no special at all.
Nevertheless, they loved the
Kingdom of God. They longed for
being with Jesus. So Jesus had

THE COMMISSION OF THE

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and
APOSTLES
authority over all demons,
and to cure diseases. He sent them to
preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

(Luke 9:1-2)

According to the above quote, how does the great

commission work?

1. He called His twelve disciples together

Jesus makes a personal call. We
answer and we join others in fulfilling
the calling. We work together as one
(Acts 2:1).
2. [He] gave them power and
authority
We dont need to use our own
strength. Jesus gives us the
power to defeat the enemy
under any circumstances.
3. He sent them to preach and
to heal
Every disciple must care for
others in every way:

DISCIPLESHIP
After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,
and sent them two by two before His face into every city
and place where He Himself was about to go Then the
seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons
are subject to us in Your name. (Luke 10:1,17)

Those 70 disciples were

commanded to preach the
Gospel, so preaching is not
reserved to priests and
elders only. Every Christian
must be involved in this
mission.
What did Jesus say about the
result of the seventys
When our
mission
10:18-20)?
mission (Luke
is
The greater the
successful,
Satan is
defeated (v.
18).

effort, the
greater the
power (v. 19).

Our joy should

not be rooted in
success but in
entering the
Kingdom of
Heaven
(v. 20).

As Christ sent forth His disciples, so today He sends forth the members
of His church. The same power that the apostles had is for them. If they
will make God their strength, He will work with them, and they shall not
labor in vain. Let them realize that the work in which they are engaged is
one upon which the Lord has placed His signet.

E.G.W. (The Acts of the Apostles, cp. 58, pg. 5

THE COST OF
DISCIPLESHIP

Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

The cost of discipleship may be summarized in three verbs:

Denying, taking up and following.

Denying myself. Im no longer

my old me. That me is
dead and Im a new person in
Christ.
Taking up my cross. I must
accept my new responsibility
as a disciple. I may even have
to pay a high price to accept
it.

Following Jesus. Jesus must be

the only one leading my life.

Without people walking in the

footprints of Calvary, there is no

E.G.W. (Gods Amazing Grace, September 20)

Those who would be victors should

contemplate and count the cost of salvation.
Strong human passions must be subdued;
the independent will must be brought into
captivity to Christ. The Christian is to realize
that he is not his own. He will have
temptations to resist, and battles to fight
against his own inclinations; for the Lord will
accept no half-way service. Hypocrisy is an
abomination to Him. The follower of Christ
must walk by faith, as seeing Him who is
invisible. Christ will be his dearest treasure,
his all and in all.