The Disciples God Can Use (2 Timothy 2:15-26)

“The Disciples God Can Use” Message Notes (2 Timothy 2:15-16; Pastor Curt Audet 8/31/25)

Message Series: The Master’s Plan For Making Disciples

BI: God uses His disciples that choose to prepare for His will to be done in and through them. 

Jesus has a message to every soul on earth.  If you know Him, draw closer.  If you have been distant, return to Him. If you are rebelling, surrender and repent.  Jesus  calls every soul to come to Him,

“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:27-30)

Jesus’ call to us to ‘take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” is the call to follow Him, to seek Him, to become His disciple.  In this process, we find rest for our souls and resurrection for our spirits in Him!

On regular Monday through Friday mornings, I like to prepare a simple breakfast omelet. I like to have tasty ingredients including three free-range grown eggs from Mark, our local farmer friend; broken bacon bits; shredded sharp Cheddar or American cheese; and just the right dash of onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

I open the drawer to the left of the sink for a fork; I go to the cabinet above that drawer for a plate the right size to handle the nearly 6” bacon, egg, and cheese omelet. The size of the skillet sets the size of the omelet. 

Once in a while the fork, the plate or the coffee cup I want to use is still in the dishwasher ready to be cleaned or in the left side of the sink.  Which side of the sink utensils are found is important since the clean items gather to dry on the right side while the items still needing to be cleaned gather on  the left side.

If I find the right plate, but its still on the left side, I need to clean it off first.   When I reach for the right fork, the griddle and the mixing cup, each one has to be clean and ready.  Each utensil, each porcelain cup is not ready for use if there are cracks in it or dried, caked up leftovers are all over it.

The discipler—that is, the apostle Paul–told one of the younger men he was discipling a similar story.  He told Timothy that like utensils in our homes have to made ready to be useful to fulfill their purpose, so disciples of Christ must make themselves ready to be useable in the hands of our Master.  A key to being a disciple of Christ is having the desire to be a follower of Christ, a learner, a student, a disciple.

Jesus calls us to be His disciples.  And Jesus calls us to make disciples of others who have not embraced Christ yet.  Can I ask you an honest question?  Do you want to be both a disciple of Christ and a disciple-maker?

Reasons To Be A Disciple-Maker

Every person is eternally lost in their sin apart from being born again in Jesus.

God in His magnanimous grace and mercy saved me from my sin.

Right here, right now is a window of time in history when all who will come can.

Every person has an expiration date and no one what that date is.

We can snatch people from Hell’s imminent consequence and fire.

To be ready to be disciples, we have to make decisions that prepare us for His will to be done in us.

 When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John who were fishermen in Capernaum near the north end of the Sea of Galilee, He appealed to an idea they understood:  “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” They then began a three year intentional pursuit to be made the ‘fishers of human souls’ as Jesus promised.

How does a person prepare themselves to be effective and useful in the hands of God for the task of Making Disciples?  What qualities are conducive to usefulness as a Disciple-Maker?  Today’s text answers this question.

Recently, I’ve referenced 2 Timothy 2:1-2 often as the procedure of making disciples in a nutshell.  We’ll focus on memorizing this verse starting in September:

“Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

In verses 15-26, the Apostle Paul explains the responsibility you and and I have in becoming and being a useful disciple-maker in God’s hands. Here’s the F.A.C.T. on getting ready.

BE FAITHFUL (v.15)“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

We know from v.2 that in order to transmit the Gospel from one generation to another, we must be faithful.  Here we see how we are to be faithful.   In handling the Word of God.   We are discipling others as followers of Christ.

Of course next Sunday evening at 5pm we will begin Season Three of AWANA.   AWANA is, in short, faithful child discipleship.  And the word AWANA is an acronym for 2 Timothy 2:15,

Awana Is Child-Discipleship

A – Approved

W – Worker

A – Are

N – Not

A – Ashamed

When are the disciples of Christ ‘approved’ workers?  When we rightly handle the Word of God.  Taking it in its context; seeking the message God intended to be; refusing to change the meaning.  When can a disciple be ‘not ashamed’?  When we have faithfully handled the Word of God entrusted to us by carefully giving to others.

Listen: As we pursue a culture of discipleship, and becoming ‘disciples making disciples’ AWANA is the best first stop to learn and grow into disciple-makers.  If you have not led another to Christ and to grow in Christ in recent months or years, make the intentional step to sign up with us for AWANA Season Three. 

Cultivate faithfulness to our Lord, to His Word and to His community and to His mission.  

BE AVAILABLE (v.16-19) “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

The Apostle Paul discipled Timothy to put priorities in his life correct unlike two would-be disciples Hymenaeus and Philetus.  They had heard the truth among the faithful witnesses in v.2, but they became novel, they became off-course, they swerved from the truth of God’s Word to something . . . dare I suggest, more interesting? But God’s firm foundation stands and we are called to stand upon it.  Have nothing to do with these irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (See 1 Tim 4:7-8). 

BE CLEAN (v.20-21) ²⁰ Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

Here you can clearly see God uses His disciples that choose to prepare for His will to be done in and through them.  Scripture is filled with stories of people who made a series of choices and became either a vessel of dishonor or a vessel of honor.  “I want to be a vessel for honorable use in the LORD’s hands.” – Curt Audet

People Of Honor                                  People Of Dishonor

Abel                                         Cain

Timothy                                    Hymenaus & Philetus

Peter                                        Judas

Moses                                       Pharoah

Elijah & Elisha                            King Ahab & Queen Jezebel

Philip the evangelist                   Simon the sorcerer

Stephen                                    Saul / Paul

BE TEACHABLE ²² So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ([Looks like Matthew 6:33] ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:14-26)

Do you want to be a useful Disciple Making Disciple in your life and for the glory of Jesus Christ?

You can begin this pursuit any time in your life.  A lost man I knew had many people praying for him.   His wife Betty daily prayer for him.  Lloyd was angry, bitter, stewing.  He refused every opportunity to serve, and follow Christ.  Until 3 months before he died.  Late in years.  Finally he surrendered and in short order shared the gospel and discipled others in those last days he had.  A person of dishonor, turned to be a vessel useful for the master!  He became teachable, willing to learn, eager to honor Jesus!  We become clean as we turn from sin, seek God’s forgiveness and cleansing.  (1 John 1:9)

So what type of disciple of Christ can God use to reach into the cabinet in your neighborhood to bring new people to be new disciples to become new disciple-makers?

Remember to be the FACT:

FAITHFUL, AVAILABLE, CLEAN, TEACHABLE.

God uses His disciples that choose to prepare for His will to be done in and through them. 

Prayer