Filling our City with the Gospel: Multiplication
Matthew 28:18-20
I love to ride my mountain bike. And there’s this steep hill near the IBM Research Park which has switchbacks going all the way up to a great view on the top. But as hard as I tried, I just could not go all the way up that hill without stopping a couple times. Either the turns were too sharp or there were too many rocks or I just got tired.
But then one day I went riding with my friend Mark Williams. And he told me that I could make it up that hill without stopping: I just needed to understand that it could be done. And he said: watch me. And sure enough, he started out and went through every turn and over the rocks and made it all the way to the top without stopping. So I saw that it could be done. And because I knew that it was possible, when I tried it I also went through every turn and over the rocks and made it all the way to the top without stopping.
Here’s the point. In the New Testament we see people meeting Jesus every day, we see churches planted, we see the gospel advancing – we see multiplication. But if we are honest, most of us don’t think multiplication is possible for us – here and now. We don’t expect to help people come to know Jesus. We don’t expect to see our home groups send out teams to start new home groups. We don’t expect to see this church send out teams to plant new churches. We don’t think multiplication is possible.
But today I want to show you from God’s Word that it is possible.
We have been talking about four rhythms that were part of the early church that enabled them to fill their cities with the gospel. First there’s faith -- where every believer trusts Jesus to fulfill all His promises, and this results in joy and peace, love for others, and costly obedience.
Now this morning I’m going to be talking a lot about community and mission and multiplication – but it’s crucial to understand that this is all about Jesus. Everything flows from trusting Jesus.
Some of you have never trusted your lives to Jesus. Others of you have burdens that you are not entrusting to Jesus. Others of you have idols that you are trusting more than Jesus. And the most important thing you will hear this morning is – trust Jesus.
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He came to the earth 2,000 years ago. He lived the perfect life we should have lived, and he died the horrible death in our place that we should have died. And He rose from the dead, and can be known and trusted and experienced today. And so, because of what He’s done, when we turn from whatever else we’ve been trusting, and trust Jesus as Lord and Savior and all-satisfying Treasure – everything changes.
He forgives us for the guilt of all our sin. He frees us more and more from the power of sin. He makes Himself real to us in our experience so we are fully satisfied. He pours His love into our hearts so we love everyone around us.
Your lifestyle will change. You love your wife, lead your wife, pray with your wife. Wives love and respect their husbands. You parents love your kids, play with your kids, pray with your kids. You work hard at your job. You are responsible and generous with your money. You love and forgive and are patient and don’t grumble and stop gossiping. This all comes from faith in Jesus; trusting Him.
So – are you trusting Jesus? There’s nothing more important I have to say this morning: trust Jesus!
And in the early church, this rhythm of faith flowed out in community, where every believer encourages each other to trust Jesus’ promises, which results in even more joy and peace, even more love for each other, and even more obedience to Jesus. That’s what our home groups are all about.
And as faith in Jesus flows into community, the result will be mission. Because we know the living Jesus, because we know what it is to have Jesus forgive the guilt of our sin and free us from the power of our sin, and because we see the judgment and bondage people around us are in – we long to see them come to know Jesus. Every follower of Jesus longs to see everyone around him or her come to know Jesus.
And the result is multiplication – where we see lots of people come to know Jesus. Where each home group sees people come to know Jesus and every home group sends out teams to start new home groups to see more people come to know Jesus. And where every church sends out teams of people to new parts of the city to start new churches to see more people come to Jesus. The result is multiplication.
But most of us have never experienced multiplication. And so over time we settle for no multiplication. But we can’t settle. For the glory of Jesus, and for the salvation of the lost, we can’t settle for no multiplication. So what I want to show you today is that multiplication is possible.
I want to show this to you in two ways. First – take a look at multiplication in the book of Acts. Take a look at Acts 2:47. If you need a Bible go ahead and raise your hand. Acts 2 is on page 911 in the Bibles we are passing out. Take a look at Acts 2:47 – the last sentence --
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
This takes place in Jerusalem at around the year 30 AD. We know that 3,000 people were saved on the Day of Pentecost. But it didn’t stop there. Every day Jesus was saving people. Monday Jesus was saving people. Tuesday Jesus was saving people. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Jesus was saving people. So in the year 30 AD people were being saved every day.
But then look at Acts 16:5 (p.925). This is 18 years later – around the year 48 AD – and it has to do with all the churches in Syria and Cilicia. Look what Luke writes --
So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
So daily conversions weren’t just in Jerusalem in 30 AD. Daily conversions were taking place in all the churches throughout Syria and Cilicia in the year 48 AD. And this wasn’t because they all had apostles in them preaching daily. They didn’t. This is because they were each connecting with lost people and showing and sharing Jesus daily. And every day people were coming to know Jesus. That’s multiplication.
But this didn’t just happen in the early church. Let me give you three recent examples of multiplication:
First, from a region of Southeast Asia. In 1993 there were three churches with a total of 85 believers. Four years later there were more than 550 churches with nearly 55,000 believers. In four years, three churches became 550 churches. 85 believers became 55,000 believers.
Second, a region in Latin America. In 1990 there were 235 churches. Eight years later, in 1998, those 235 churches had increased to 3,200 churches.
Third, an example from Western Europe. In 1998 a missionary couple was overseeing 15 small churches. They left for a six month sabbatical, wondering how these 15 small churches would do. After about five months, they were overjoyed to hear that those 15 small churches were not only strong, they had seen people brought to Christ, and they had planted 15 other churches, and there were another 15 to 20 teams ready to go out and plant new churches.
And let me tell you a much smaller example which I saw with my own eyes. The summer of 1972 Jesus powerfully stirred a lot of the kids at my high school – and we started the school year longing to tell everyone about Jesus. And as a result, God did something amazing. 15 sophomores met Jesus. 80 kids from our high school went to the church winter retreat, many trusting Jesus for the first time. And every Friday about 50 kids met in a classroom for worship and Bible study. Jesus did a multiplying work.
Multiplication is possible. It happened in the early church, and it’s happened throughout church history. And it can happen here. The reason I say that is because multiplication is promised. To see that, look at Matthew 28:18-20 (p.835) –
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Some say this command is just for the apostles – not for us. But notice the promise Jesus gives at the end of v.20 – “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” So this promise is not just for apostles, who died in the 1st century; it’s for believers who are alive to the end of the age. So if the promise of v.20 is for believers to the end of the age, then the command applies to believers to the end of the age – which means it applies to each of us.
So Jesus calls each of us to make disciples. And we see what that means in v.20 – it means we teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded. Which includes teaching them to obey this command – to make disciples. In other words, we teach them to go and make disciples of others -- who will make disciples of others, who will make disciples of others. That’s multiplication.
Now at this point I would guess some of you are feeling absolutely overwhelmed and defeated. Maybe you’ve never told someone else about Jesus. Or maybe it’s been years since you’ve shared Jesus with someone. And you are feeling that this is miles from where you are.
But let me encourage you with the promise at the end of v.20. Jesus says: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That’s why we can do this. Not because we have it in us. But because Jesus is with us.
Just like we saw last week – Jesus says: “Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.” This is a promise for people who are not fishers of men. If we will follow Jesus, then He will make us into fishers of men. Our part is to follow Him, and if we will follow Him then He promises that He will make us into fishers of men. Wouldn’t you love that?
So multiplication is promised. Now let’s talk about how multiplication is envisioned.
How might multiplication look in your life? I’d like to suggest that you adopt three daily rhythms. First, every day spend time nurturing your faith in Jesus through His Word and prayer. Second, every day do one thing to build the faith of someone in your home group – praying for them, calling them, listening to them – that’s community. And then third, every day do one thing to help someone who doesn’t know Jesus come closer to Jesus – pray for them, serve them, talk with them, call them, invite them to do something with your home group – that’s mission.
Now we are committed to training you in how to do each of these. Not so much by having training classes – but by having your home group leaders and others spend time with you so you see how they nurture their faith in Jesus, how they build the faith of others, and how they help people come to faith in Jesus.
But you can go ahead and get started on your own with these three daily rhythms. As you do that – in reliance on Jesus and His power – you will see people come to know Jesus. You will experience multiplication.
And as everyone in your home group does that – your home group will experience multiplication. As your home group builds each other up in faith, and as you are all befriending people who don’t yet know Jesus – many of them will trust Jesus and become part of your home group.
And that will create a wonderful problem. The problem is that when a home group gets to around 15 people – it starts to be too big to function effectively as a home group. And so as the home group leaders and everyone start praying God will raise up a leader and a team to be sent out to plant a home group in another part of the city.
Maybe a couple in the group with a leadership calling have a heart for the Willow Glen area where we don’t have any home groups; maybe there’s some other people in the group who live in the Willow Glen area or some people who feel called to move to the Willow Glen area. So as the group prays and God confirms the group might send out 6 to 8 people to start a new home group there. And so now we’ve got a home group reaching neighbors in a new area the Willow Glen area, inviting them to a home group that’s right there.
That’s how multiplication would look for a home group.
So how would multiplication look for us as a church? The reason we want to plant churches is because – all else being equal -- two churches of a hundred help more people come to know Jesus than one church of two hundred. My vision is not to have all this multiplication so this church becomes huge. My vision is to have all this multiplication so we can plant churches throughout the south bay. So what might that look like?
We’ve got that new Willow Glen home group. And maybe the Strousses send out a team to start a home group over here – and the Gregg’s home group sends out a team to start a home group here. And there’s a biblically qualified guy who’s leading one of these groups who thinks God’s calling him to plant a church. And Jesus starts talking to these groups and the elders that they should become a church.
So as Jesus confirms all this, those three home groups could become a church together – maybe finding a school to meet at on Sundays – and continuing to fill San Jose with the gospel.
And then maybe Jesus would do the same thing down in the Santa Teresa area – or over in the Los Gatos area – or up in the Sunnyvale area. Churches would be planted, people would meet Jesus, Jesus would be glorified.
Now I know that at this point some of us are feeling like – what does that possibly have to do with me? I’m just trying to find a job. Others are feeling fear or dread – I can’t imagine telling someone else about Jesus. Others are feeling like – this is great – but it’s sort of out there.
But let me encourage you to start with those three daily rhythms. Every day take time to nurture your trust in Jesus in the Word of God and prayer. And every day do something to build the faith of someone in your home group. And every day do something to help others come to know Jesus – pray for someone, pray for God to lead you to someone, invite a neighbor over for coffee, have lunch with someone at work, invite someone to your home group barbecue.
Three daily rhythms – faith, community, mission. That’s following Jesus. And as you follow Jesus, He will enable you to become a fisher of men.
Questions?