From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: God always has a plan. He has a master plan. He leads His people to a place where folks would say, "That's a terrible place. If you're a good general, God, you wouldn't lead your people here." But God has a plan. He has a master plan of how to build the church. And the way He builds His church is through a thing called discipleship.

Larry Noble: As a disciple of Christ, there is great joy. But there are also expectations, clearly detailed in the Bible, that God has for our lives as His disciples. Welcome to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve. Thank you for joining us today where Pastor Jeff is going to detail the Master's plan for discipleship.

We’re going to discover the characteristics of good discipleship and learn how to be more Christ-like every day of our lives for our own benefit, for the health of the church, and for the glory of God. We’ve been hearing messages this month from Pastor Jeff’s eight-lesson series, "Setting the House in Order: A Study of the Book of Titus." You can listen again to any of those you may have missed when you go to fromhisheart.org and click the "Listen" link. Follow along now in the book of Titus, starting in chapter 2, as Pastor Jeff begins outlining the Master’s plan for discipleship.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: I was thinking about the movie *The Ten Commandments* and how, as you know the story from the Bible and also from the movie, when God’s people left Egypt, they left, and the Egyptians gave them all sorts of gold and silver. They just wanted them out of their midst because terrible things were happening as God put the plagues on the Egyptians. And so the people left.

After the people left, it dawned on Pharaoh, "What did I just do? I let go of all our slaves—roughly a million and a half, two million people. That's a lot of people." And so then Pharaoh mounts up his chariots and gets his army out there to pursue Israel. In the movie, it's so interesting because God led His people to a place called Pi-hahiroth, which is that place right by the Red Sea at the base there of the Red Sea, and there’s nowhere to go. They kind of got hemmed into this plot, this spot.

Here is Pharaoh, and he’s coming, and he says these words in that Yul Brynner voice: "Moses' God is not much of a general. If He were a general, He wouldn't have led them to this place." But Moses' God knew exactly what He was doing because Moses' God was going to open up the Red Sea, and Pharaoh had no concept of how a God could do that. One of the last lines in that movie is the best line of all where his sweet wife, Nefertari, says to him—being sarcastic, obviously—"Can you hear them laughing, Ramses? You were beaten by Moses, by the God of slaves." And he says, "His God is God."

His God is God, and God is God, and God always has a plan. He has a master plan. He leads His people to a place where folks would say, "That's a terrible place. If you're a good general, God, you wouldn't lead your people here." But God had a plan that nobody else knew, and that was to open up the Red Sea and take the worst of situations and turn it into the greatest miracle in the Old Testament.

Now, when you look into the church age and you look into the New Testament age and you look into our day and age today in which we live in the church age, God has a plan. He has a master plan of how to build the church. Remember Jesus said to Peter, "I say to you, you are Peter, little rock, and upon this rock"—speaking of Himself, the petra; Peter was petros, little rock—"upon this rock, petra"—speaking of Himself—"I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

So the Lord is at work in building His church. And the way He builds His church is through a thing called discipleship. He told His disciples in Matthew chapter 28, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age."

So He wants us not to make converts, but to make disciples. A disciple is a learner, is a follower, someone who is in the process of growing and changing as they follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the church is to be doing. We're not just to try and convert people and then just say, "Well, we're done with you." We're wanting people to come to Christ and help them grow in Christ.

So the Master’s plan for discipleship to grow the church—He talks about it, I believe, in Titus chapter 2. Paul’s letter to Titus gives us a picture of what a healthy church that's involved in raising up disciples and growing disciples and reaching people for Christ—what does that look like? Remember Paul told Titus, "I've left you in Crete," which is an island in Greece—the Greek islands there in the Mediterranean—and he said, "I've left you here in order that you may set up what remains and establish what remains and set up pastors and leaders in the church in every church there on that island in Crete."

He talks about the false teachers at the end of chapter 1. We dealt with that last time, and then he switches gears and he starts talking about what Titus was to do in the church. He says in verse 1 of chapter 2: "But as for you, Titus, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. Likewise, urge the young men to be sensible. In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us."

The healthy church—what does a healthy church look like in terms of discipleship? Let me say this. You know, sometimes a person in church can feel like, "Well, I'm too young for God to use." Sometimes you can feel like, "Well, I'm too messed up for God to use." Sometimes you can feel like, "I'm too old for God to use." I'm 51 years old, but I've talked to enough people who are older than I am, and people that get to be 75, 80, 85, 90—they can feel like, "I can't do the things I used to do and I can't be as active." And an older person can start feeling like they don't have much usefulness anymore.

But whether you're 8 or 98, God wants to use you, and He has a plan in His master plan for discipleship. So let's look at four facets of the healthy church in terms of raising up disciples. First of all, number one, there's a steady stream of sound doctrine. In a healthy church, you have a steady stream of sound doctrine. "But as for you," verse 1 says, "speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine."

He just talked about, in verses 10 through 16, the false teachers that needed to be rebuked, that needed to be refuted, because they were contradicting, they were upsetting whole families, they were rebels and they were rabble-rousers. And so he tells Titus, "Go after those guys because they're messing people up spiritually." And then he says, "But as for you, you speak the words that are fitting for sound doctrine." Sound doctrine means healthy, wholesome, uncorrupted teaching, uncorrupted instruction.

Now, in a healthy church, you have Bible studies going on where there's sound biblical doctrine being taught, and from the pulpit, sound biblical doctrine is being taught. That's a healthy church. You start getting unhealthy whenever you start getting teaching that's not sound, teaching that's not in keeping with the word of God. No one has it all right. There's not a person on the planet that understands everything in this book and every jot and every tittle and understands everything about eschatology just completely right.

But there's a difference between getting it all right and having sound doctrine. And the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6, that we're to be constantly nourished on the words of the faith. I talked to a friend of mine last night who used to go to church here, and then they moved away to the Colorado area. I was asking him, "Well, how's it going at church?" And he said, "Well," he said, "I don't want to say anything bad about my pastor. I love my pastor. But," he said, "he's not really preaching the Bible as much as I'd like him to preach the Bible."

He said, "I was at a church the other day—we were just visiting, my wife and I were out of town—and," he said, "it was just a small little church, but he said the preacher just went through verse by verse by verse, and he said it was so refreshing to hear that because we're not hearing that at my church." You see, you know, when you come to church, it's not all the time that you hear something you've never heard before. Lots of times at church, what you need is to hear what you already know, but to hear it again, to have it reinforced.

You know why in the Gospels you can read and there are stories and it's like, "Well, Jesus told this story in Matthew, but he told it a little different in Mark, and then it's a little different in Luke"? He spoke to lots of groups of people. He probably told those parables a lot. Don't ever get the idea that for the three years Jesus—every time He spoke, it was a new sermon. Not necessarily. He would hammer those same points. That's why certain parables come out at a different way, but it's the same truth that He's trying to bring across. Lots of times you come to church, you don't need something new per se. You just need to hear something that you've already known. You need to hear it anew and afresh so that you can be nourished on sound teaching and sound doctrine.

Larry Noble: We’ll continue to explore the truth when Pastor Jeff returns in just a moment. But first, are you ready for a fresh work of God in your life? Revival begins when God’s people are willing to return to Him, and that is what Pastor Jeff’s series, "Soul on Fire: God’s Plan for Revival," is all about. Messages in this powerful series include "Prone to Wander," "This is the Life," "Spiritual Adultery," "Returning to God in Prayer," and "Do You Want to be Revived?"

And we’d like to send you a copy of this series in the format of your choice for your gift of any amount to From His Heart this month. It’ll be a blessing to you and give you the renewed fervor for the things of God. Right now, the world is more open than it has been in years for Christ, and your support helps ensure that when hearts are ready, the truth is there—clear, biblical, and life-changing. We are deeply grateful to God for you and for the role you play in proclaiming real truth around the world during this God-given window of opportunity. Again, for your gift this month of any amount, we’ll send you the series "Soul on Fire: God’s Plan for Revival." It will empower you to seek His face first. Call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40-BIBLE, or go to fromhisheart.org. Make that gift today and request the series "Soul on Fire." It’s available in the format of your choice. Now let’s get back to today’s lesson, "The Master’s Plan for Discipleship."

Dr. Jeff Schreve: James chapter 3, verse 1: "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such, you shall incur a stricter judgment." Man, it's serious business to teach the word of God because you want to be sound in your teaching, and it's good and it's wholesome and it's true, and it's "Thus says the Lord." So you always stick to the word. That's the first thing about a solid church, a healthy church: there's a steady stream of sound doctrine so that people can be constantly nourished on the words of the faith.

Facet number two: there are older people in the church who are wise and godly. A healthy church is going to have older people in it. And those older people are going to be people who have been walking with the Lord for a while, and they're going to have wisdom and they're going to have godliness about their lives. You know, you can be old and not have any wisdom and not have any godliness. But at a healthy church, you're going to find older, gray-headed people that do have a walk with God, and they've been walking with God for a while.

So he says in verse 2, "Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love"—in agape love—"and in perseverance." "Older women likewise." And he says some different things about the older women, but the "likewise" means they're supposed to be like that, too. And so the older people are to have a walk with God, and the older people are to be an example to the church as to "This is what it looks like if you've walked with God for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years."

Now, it's sad, but this is so true: some people just get older, but they don't grow. And so they might be 75 years old, and they might have become a Christian when they were 15 or 10. So they've been a Christian for a long, long time, but they hadn't grown a lot. You know, if you could see spiritually the way God sees, you'd see some people—you know, you see an infant in diapers, and nobody—we just think that's so cute. You go to the nursery and you see an infant in diapers, "Oh, look at that. He's so cute." But you know, you see a 65-year-old man wearing diapers, something's wrong, right? "What's the deal here?" Spiritually, there are a lot of people that are older, but they haven't grown up.

And God says, "Hey, if you're going to have a healthy church, you're going to have older men and older women." And what are they going to be like? They're going to be temperate, which means sober and vigilant. They're not falling asleep at the switch. They're alert, and they're alert to what's going on around them spiritually. The Bible says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." So the older people are aware. They're vigilant. They're on the lookout and they're not falling asleep on the job.

And they're dignified, which means they're honorable and they're living a life of honor. They're sensible, which means sound in mind and self-controlled. And then he says this: "sound in faith, in love"—in agape love—"and then in perseverance," in their ability to have patience and to patiently endure the difficulties of life. You know, you talk about being able to have perseverance. You know, as you get older, you have to have perseverance because getting older is not for sissies. It's hard to get older because things don't work. You've got to have perseverance as you get older.

So that's the older people, wise and godly. And then he says something. He says in verse 3, "Older women likewise." So whatever I said about the older men, you can just say "ditto" for the older women. But then he adds some things. They're to be reverent in their behavior. They're to have a godliness and a reverence and a holiness about their lives. "Not malicious gossips." That's the New American Standard. Not malicious gossips. One word in the Greek. Malicious gossip is one word in the Greek: diabolos, from which we get our word "devil." Not a slanderer. The devil is a slanderer. He's a false accuser. The Bible says in the book of Revelation that he accuses us before God day and night.

Now, a woman, an older woman—kids are gone. Her time is a lot more free because her kids have grown and gone. And it says, watch out that she doesn't become a malicious gossip. Now, an older woman is not the only one that can become a malicious gossip. But notice that the command and the warning there is to the older woman, not to the older man. Because women, just by the way they're wired and made—women talk more than men, and they're more susceptible to being a malicious gossip than a man. Men can be malicious gossips, but they're not—that's not quite their bent. It tends to be more of a thing that a woman has to watch for.

So older women have to watch their tongues. Very important for them to watch their tongues. Why? Because Proverbs chapter 18, verse 21, tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. So they have to make sure that they're not becoming gossips, malicious gossips, slandering people, saying things and jumping to conclusions and then spreading that out. The Lord hates it when we spread strife among brethren. And so we need to be very, very careful with what we say. Ephesians 4:29: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Heard a story about a woman in a church, and she was just notorious—an older woman. She was known throughout the church and just notorious as being a malicious gossip. And she would find some dirt and she would just spread it all over the place. And everybody was a little bit afraid of her because if they confronted her, they thought she might spread dirt about them. So nobody ever said anything to this woman. Well, there was a new member in the church. His name was Joe. And she saw Joe's truck parked outside the bar in town.

And she just told everybody about it. And then she confronted Joe. And she said, "We know what you're doing. I saw your truck in front of that bar. And everybody knows if your truck's in front of the bar that you're out drinking and you have a drinking problem." And he looked at her. He didn't say anything. He just walked off. And that night, he got in his truck and he drove to her house. And he parked in front of her house and walked home.

That kind of stopped her dead in her tracks. Listen, you don't want to be that kind of person that is a malicious gossip. Now, a little movie quiz. We did *The Ten Commandments*. How many people in here have seen *Gone with the Wind*? Okay. Has anybody *not* seen *Gone with the Wind*? Okay. If I mention a name, *Gone with the Wind*, tell me what you think of: Scarlett O'Hara. Not a nice person, would you agree with that?

Okay, let me say another name: Melanie Wilkes. Sweet. Melanie Wilkes—if you go back and watch that movie, you see that there's a particular scene in that movie where Scarlett tries to steal away Ashley Wilkes because she's so in love. Well, Ashley's married to Melanie, and word gets back to Melanie. And then there's a scene where Melanie and Scarlett are going to be together. And all the little biddies there are saying, "Oh, this is the time that Melanie's really going to let her have it." And in that scene, Melanie's so gracious. And she calls Scarlett over to sit by her or do something—they're sewing or whatever they're doing—"Scarlett, you come sit by me." And somebody tried to say something nasty about Scarlett, and she just said, "No, we're not going to have any of that."

You know, I've thought about that before in my own life. Am I more like Scarlett or am I more like Melanie? Melanie wouldn't let an unwholesome word come forth from her mouth, and Scarlett was just a sewer of unwholesome words. You want to be like Melanie Wilkes. And for the older women, as the Scripture says here, you need to really watch it and say, "Lord, help me to not be a person that repeats dirt or seeks out dirt or spreads dirt, even in prayer requests." You know, some people try and do that. It's like, "Well, I know I'm not supposed to gossip, but let me just say I got this prayer request." And it's just a cover for sharing dirt. So don't do that. The Scripture makes it clear, don't do that because death and life are in the power of the tongue and it can cause so much hurt.

It says, "nor enslaved to much wine." They're not going to be—you don't want to be a doulos. That's the word that's used there, which is the lowest slave, to wine or any substance like that. You want to be a doulos to the Lord. And then, "teaching what is good." So the older people, wise and godly.

Larry Noble: Is your church teaching what is good? Are they controlling their tongues? Are you participating in activities that actually hurt the church, like gossip for example? Well, the answers to those questions will tell you if your church is a healthy church filled with effective disciples or not. Today you heard part one of the message called "The Master’s Plan for Discipleship" from the eight-lesson series, "Setting the House in Order: A Study of the Book of Titus." We’ll be airing more of this series the rest of the month, but you can get the entire eight-lesson series on CDs, MP3 download, or on a USB flash drive when you go to fromhisheart.org, or you can simply call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40-BIBLE.

As Pastor Jeff has pointed out today, troubles and trials so easily blind our eyes to the character and the nature of God. Would that describe you? If so, you’ll want to get Pastor Jeff’s series, "Soul on Fire: God’s Plan for Revival." It’s our gift to you this month for your support of any amount to From His Heart. Pastor Jeff receives no income from this ministry. He’s our chief volunteer. Your support makes this program possible each day. If you’d like to invest in Kingdom work through From His Heart, call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40-BIBLE, or go to fromhisheart.org.

Well, I’m Larry Noble, and we trust that you’ll join Pastor Jeff this weekend nationwide for the From His Heart television broadcast on several national networks and broadcast into 182 other countries around the world. Or you can go to our website to watch the weekly TV broadcast online, as well as the radio programs you may have missed. And be right back here on Monday for part two of the message "The Master’s Plan for Discipleship." Join us then as we again open up God’s word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.