Watch The Sermon:
Read The Sermon:
TEXT: MATTHEW 28: 16-20
Jesus Christ is calling Born Again believers to become His disciples……….. HELLO/WELCOME………In part one of the “One Minute Disciple Of Jesus Christ,” we gave you the first six of 10 steps to becoming a disciple. Here is a summary of them: #1 the word of God is your Spiritual food that your soul and spirit need every day. #2 It is suggested that new Converts begin in the book of The Gospel of John, and then read Matthew Mark and Luke. These represent the milk of God’s Word. #3 Recognize that the Holy Spirit now dwells in your heart. If you are not quite sure whether He is there, seek Him with all your heart, and you will find Him. #4 Expect early attacks from the enemy as he attempts to steal God’s word out of your mouth. Resist him, and he will flee! #5 Become water baptized as soon as possible. Jesus Christ was baptized, true disciples of Christ follow in his footsteps. #6 Cleanse yourself daily with the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not allow unforgiven sins to pile up on you. Ask God to deliver you from old sinful habits and He will.
- Become a part of an assembly of Born Again believers in Christ: There is a dangerous snare that the enemy sets for new born again believers. He tries to separate them from like-minded believers in Christ. We’ve seen many who say that they do not go to church, yet they claim to be truly born again. Education is very important to us in every field of life. The church is supposed to help educate new converts, but at times the church falls short. Unfortunately church can often be both confusing and intimidating. Fortunately, God’s Holy Spirit will assist you in navigating these rough waters. Jesus Christ, the one you have chosen to follow was faced with a similar dilemma. The temple was not such a holy place in His day either. The religious leaders, most especially the Sadducees were using the temple for financial gain. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ went into the temple every Sabbath when He was in Jerusalem. Very often He stood up and read the scriptures in the temple. Maybe there are some hypocrites in the church you have attended. I say, go to church anyway, just do not become a hypocrite like them! Hebrews 10:25 admonishes us not to turn away from assembling together with believers in Christ.
- The Holy Spirit will always lead you into truth, if you really want truth that is: All believers in Christ should want to be taught by someone who has the Spirit of excellence in teaching the Word of God, one who does not teach error. But there is no perfect human teacher! The Savior has sent us the Holy Spirit! He is our most reliable teacher. But if you are not studying the word of God, then you will not know truth from error. The Holy Spirit will not study the word of God for you. That’s your job! However, He will elucidate God’s Word, and point to truth always. He will give you a good understanding of the Word of God as you study. Make sure you review the beliefs or doctrine of the church that you are attending or plan to attend, to see if they line up with God’s Word. Doctors hang out with doctors for the purpose of sharpening their skills, and learning new techniques. Lawyers hang out with lawyers for the same reason, even dogs hang out with other dogs. The old adage says, ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ The new believer in Christ must separate himself from his old stomping ground, if the Word of God is not present there, and begin hanging with true believers in Christ. Three of the elements that cause believers in Christ to turn back from following the Lord are, “People, Places and Things” that are associated with their old sinful life. The devil uses these three to persuade us to walk out of the Kingdom of God, and back into our old life! Any man in Christ has become a new creature, having passed from his old life of sin, into the newness of Life In Christ. He has been given a new walk and a new talk through the redeeming, sanctifying blood of Jesus Christ. A big problem for many believers in Christ is their reluctance to pull away from the old crowd.
- The good disciple learns how to commune with God: Here’s a question I’m sure you would want an answer to: ‘What are some of the activities I should be engaging in now that I am a born again believer In Christ?’ One very essential activity is prayer. There is no one in the entire Bible that prayed more than Jesus Christ did. So if He was the son of God, if He was there with the Father at the foundation of the Earth, and participated in creation, why did He need to pray as much as He did? You see, prayer is simply talking to God. Jesus Christ was used to talking and communing with His Father everyday while He was in heaven. It was only natural for Him to try to keep their conversation going. Prayer is about relationship with God! For instance, if we want a strong marital relationship, then we should be able to have frequent conversations with our spouse. A relationship in which we talk to each other and listen to each other, is a healthy two-way relationship. And that is simply what prayer is all about. It is talking to God, and when we read the word of God, He is talking to us. How often should we talk to our spouse, and what are the guidelines? There are no guidelines, but we do know that the more we converse, the more intimate will be our relationship. The same thing is true for God, the more we talk to Him the tighter we are with Him, the closer the bond that ties us together. Fortunately we can talk to the Lord even throughout the day, as we perform our work. No matter what we do for a living, we can often find time to, “have a little talk with Jesus.” Here are three things that we should pray for?
- (a) We certainly should not spend all the time praying for ourselves, and for what we want and think we need! The holy scriptures tell us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122). We are told to pray that the enemies of the Jewish people would live at peace with them. Israel is possibly the most hated Nation on Earth! This hate has been increasing in recent times! The book of Revelation talks about the New Jerusalem. Born Again Gentile believers in Christ along with the faithful children of Israel will be one, and will all have access to the New Jerusalem. Apparently our prayer for Jews, and for Jerusalem has power to move the hand of God. It will bring peace to them, and will bring us prosperity. When we consider the turmoil in that area of the world, clearly we are not praying enough.
- (b) We are told to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send workers into the field, which is the world (Matt.9:38). Here again, it is clear that the saving of souls would be greater if we would only pray more. There are more than 7.7 billion people in the world, and only 2.38 billion consider themselves believers in Christ. The harvest really is great and the laborers are few! The prayers of the righteous people of God will accomplish massive results.
- (c) According to Matthew 5:44 we are to pray for our enemies: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, and persecute you.” If we are told to pray even for our enemies to be saved, then we must most certainly pray for our family, friends and acquaintances to come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
- God has given all of us good gifts. We are expected to use these gifts for the building up of His Kingdom. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift makes room for him.” This means it opens doors for him. The gifts that God has given you will open a path before you, showing you the direction in which God would have you go. Today many have been subverted, and are using their gifts to make money and to obtain fame for themselves. They want to be recognized as the best, and the greatest that ever was. Tragedy and disappointment awaits all who seeks greatness. Only God is great! The devil has filled the hearts of many with the lusts of the eye, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life. The Lord God called the one who did not glorify God with his talents, an unprofitable and wicked servant (Matthew 25:30). This servant was cast into outer darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When we become a disciple of Christ He also gives us a heart of compassion for lost souls, and a greater appreciation for God’s wonderful plan. He moves us away from being bogged down by our own selfish little issues, and our eyes open wide to God’s fervent desire that people all over the world should be saved. God allows us to see into His Global Vision, and have an understanding that the common man does not have. The Holy Spirit leads us to, “Study to show ourselves approved unto God (2Timothy 2:15).” And then, when He approves of our efforts, He sends us out to make more disciples! Every faithful disciple of Christ, is a fisher of men, a maker of disciples of Christ!
