Good afternoon, Jubilee Church. Welcome to our Tagalog-English Service. It is hard to believe that we’ve only been doing this for a month. It feels like it’s been years. This service has been in our minds and prayers for a long time. Back in March, when we were about to start, a church elder asked me, “Are you ready?” I don’t think anyone can ever be truly ready. All we can do is define our mission as clearly as possible. When things get tough, we must recall why we do what we do. Our purpose for this worship service is simple: we want to make disciples.
We are continuing our bi-weekly series on Philippians. Today, we will focus on Philippians 1:6-8. I love how relevant these verses are for us leaders in the church. Paul expresses here his heart as a true disciple maker. His words remind us how we leaders must carry out our ministries. They teach us what must be the attitude of our hearts as we make disciples.
But don’t think that these verses are only for us pastors and leaders in the church. We are not the only ones called to become true disciple makers. Those of you who are parents are called to disciple your kids. Those of you who are teachers are called to teach your students. Many of us here claim to be followers of Christ. Jesus calls all his disciples to make disciples of all nations. But how do we become true disciple makers? In today’s text, we will learn four steps.
Step #1: Trust in the Spirit.
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
Paul encouraged the Philippian Christians, saying he always prayed for them (vv. 3-5). Here in verse 6, he describes howhe was praying for them. “Being confident.” Paul prayed with confidence. What was he so sure about? He was sure that the Philippian Christians would grow in Christ and stay faithful to Christ. “That he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Notice where Paul was placing his confidence. He wasn’t confident in the Philippian Christians themselves. He wasn’t trusting in their human ability to stay faithful. Instead, where did Paul place his trust? “That he…” not you… “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion….” Paul placed his confidence in God. He trusted that the Holy Spirit will make the Philippians faithful to Christ until the end.
This is the first step to have the heart of a true disciple maker. If we want to be true disciple makers, we must trust in the Holy Spirit. We don’t place our trust in our human abilities, willpower, and methods. That’s not how we succeed in making disciples. We trust in the one who began the work and will complete it. We trust in the Holy Spirit—God Himself.
I remember the first time I got my driver’s license in 2010. I drove myself to school at DLSU for the first time. On my way back home, I often got lost somewhere in traffic. So, I had to ask for directions from Jeepney drivers. Three years later, my younger brother enrolled at CSB. The first time we went to school together, he was driving. I wanted to share with him all the wisdom I’ve gained over the years about how to drive to Taft. While I was explaining to him which roads to take, he grabbed his phone and turned on his Waze app.
Church, making disciples is hard; but it doesn’t have to be that hard. If we rely on our strength, we will burn out quickly. But if we trust in a higher power, then our ministries would be much easier. This is why prayer must be our primary disciple making strategy. Prayer is faith in action. When we pray, we declare to the world, I can do nothing without my God.
But trusting in God means acknowledging that he will sometimes say no. Sometimes, people who appear to come to Jesus will not persevere. How, then, can we be confident, like Paul, that our disciples will be faithful until the end? This is why the next step is important.
Step #2: Be Optimistic.
“It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart…” (Philippians 1:7a)
Paul just mentioned that he was confident about the enduring faith of the Philippians. Now, here in verse 7, he makes a declaration. He declares that his confidence is right. “It is right for me to feel this way about you.” Why didn’t Paul express humility? Shouldn’t he have said instead that he was unsure whether his ministry will be successful? Why was it right for Paul to feel confident about the spiritual progress of his disciples?
There are two ways a statement can be right. Something can be right because it is logical. When you answer a math question, for example, 1 + 1 = 2, you are making a logical claim. 1 + 1 = 2 is right because it is logical. On the other hand, 1 + 1 = 3 is wrong because it is illogical.
The second way that a statement can be right is because it is ethical. Imagine buying a cake for the family and telling your kids, “Cut the cake equally. Everyone should get an equal share.” That is a moral declaration. Such a statement is right because it is ethical.
When Paul says, “It is right for me to feel this way about you,” he is making both a logical claim and an ethicalclaim. Why was it ethically right for Paul to feel confident about his disciples’ spiritual progress? Paul answers, “since I have you in my heart.” When you disciple someone in Christ, you must have that person in your heart. If that person is in your heart, then you shouldn’t be pessimistic. You shouldn’t expect the worst regarding that person’s spiritual future. You cannot disciple someone and, at the back of your mind, think, “this person will probably backslide later and reject Christ.” Instead, you must be hopeful that your disciples will persevere until the end. Children need earthly parents who love them and believe in them to be motivated to succeed in life. Likewise, a child in the faith, a new convert who recently devoted his life to follow Christ, needs a disciple maker who believes in him. This is the second step to becoming a true disciple maker: be optimistic. To be a true disciple maker, you must believe that your disciples will truly grow in the faith.
Does this mean that disciple makers should be naïve and gullible? Not at all. This is why the third step is important. The first step to becoming a true disciple maker is to trust in the Holy Spirit. The second step is to be optimistic. What is the third step?
Step #3: Discern Genuine Faith.
“…for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.” (Philippians 1:7b)
Again, there are two ways that a statement can be right. A statement can be right if it is logical or if it is ethical. By saying that it is right for him to be confident in the spiritual progress of his disciples, Paul is expressing both an ethical claim and a logical claim. It is ethical for him to expect what is best for his disciples, because that’s what you do when you love someone. Paul’s confidence in his disciples is ethical; but it is also logical. Why is it logical? Because the Philippian Christians were showing Paul signs that they had true saving faith. “Whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.” The Philippian Christians were partnering with Paul and his gospel ministry, even during his suffering. This is firm evidence that they had saving faith. Why would they be willing to suffer with Paul for the gospel if they did not themselves believe wholeheartedly in the gospel?
This is the third step to becoming a true disciple maker: you must discern genuine faith. In discipling people, we can’t be too naïve and gullible in our optimism. Just because someone comes to church and says he worships Jesus, that doesn’t mean he is a true disciple. Discern his faith. Ask hard questions. Your disciple may say he believes in Jesus, but you have to ask him, “Who is Jesus?” If he simply says, “Jesus is an angel,” or “Jesus is a teacher of ancient wisdom,” or “Jesus is a social activist,” then you can’t assume that he is a true worshipper of Jesus Christ. We must affirm our Christian confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is our only Savior who died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins.
We had a campus ministry when I was studying at the university. One of the regular attendees in our weekly Bible Study was a Hindu. Every time we shared our thoughts about the Bible and religion, our Hindu friend will always say enthusiastically that he respects Jesus and that he’s happy to learn about Jesus in our Bible studies. But then, when we asked him about salvation, he would make weird statements. He would say we all have different gods, and that we can be saved by trusting and believing in whichever god we want to believe in. We wanted to be kind and accommodating to our friend, so we never asked him to leave our Bible study. But when I was about to graduate, the Lord rebuked me for my complacency. I felt that I had to tell our Hindu friend the truth. So, I told him, “Brother, I just want to tell you this honestly because we love you. Here, in this group, we believe that there is only one way to be saved. Only Jesus Christ can save us. All those other gods that you say people can trust in to be saved. They have no power to save because they do not exist.” After saying this, he expressed his honest disagreement. But he did express how much he appreciated our honest care and concern.
Church, if we want to become true disciple makers, we must discern the truth. Yes, we must trust in the Spirit. We must be optimistic that our disciples will be faithful until the end. But we must also be discerning. We must check if our disciples are truly saved. We must discern whether they are truly trusting in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation.
Step #4: Love Like Jesus.
“God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:8)
Here in verse 8, Paul declares his love for his disciples at Philippi. Notice what kind of affection he had: the affection of Christ Jesus. This is the last and most important step to becoming true disciple makers. We must love like Jesus. Someone might ask, if I must love my disciples like Jesus Christ loved me and all of his followers, then what does that look like? Notice what Paul said about this: “God can testify how I long for all of you.” Who is Paul’s witness? Who knows about Paul’s great love for the Philippian Christians? There’s only one Being who can attest to his love: God. God alone knows Paul’s love for the saints at Philippi.
So, what does it look like for a disciple maker to love like Jesus? In one sense, no one knows what it looks like. Love is an action of the heart. No one can see your heart as a disciple maker. Only God can see your heart. Only God can judge your heart whether you are truly loving the disciples you are making with all your heart.
This is another reason to use prayer as our primary disciple making strategy. It is so easy to pretend to be kind and loving. We can easily wear a face in church and in our ACCESS group meetings and pretend that we are doing ministries with deep love for the people we are serving through our ministries. But no one sees our hearts. No one truly sees whether we’re truly doing our ministries out of love. It is just as possible that we are doing our best these ministries because we love ourselves. Maybe we just want to impress people. Maybe we are working hard in these ministries and in discipleship because we just want to give ourselves a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Perhaps it’s our pride that’s motivating us to do all our ministries. No human can truly know whether we have the purest intentions. No human can truly know if we are really doing our disciple making out of love. That’s why we need to pray. When you go by yourself into your prayer closet, and it’s just you and God, you are standing face to face with the God who sees your heart. In that prayer closet, you cannot hide anything. In that prayer closet, you can’t pretend to be holy and righteous and loving. In that closet, you are exposed, and you have the opportunity to be changed. If you ask, seek, and knock, God Himself will be the one to give you a Christlike love for your disciples. God will be the one to make you a true disciple maker.