Transcription
One major mandate the Lord has given everyone of us is to consistently reach out to men and women, boys and girls that are yet to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. You have a mandate from Christ from God to consistently look out for these people, starting from around you at the home front, in the neighborhood, at your workplace, as you step out in the marketplace. The Lord wants you to consistently look out for potential converts.
Verse 28, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 28:19. He said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all Nations. Every tribe, every tongue, every ethnic group, every race must have the privilege of receiving the good news of the word of God with the opportunity to surrender their lives to Christ." It said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
You take note of some very notable things there. One, there must be a reaching out. There must be a going forth. And what does the Lord want you to reach out and do? What does he want you to go out and do? To preach the good news, to preach the gospel of Christ, the Gospel of the Kingdom, bringing those that are yet to be saved to the point where they can now also accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, bringing them to the point of salvation.
Now, their surrendering to the Lord and accepting him as their Lord and Savior may not necessarily happen at your first attempt, so consistency and persistence is required of everyone of us in this divine assignment. Beyond reaching out and going forth, preaching this message, the Lord wants us to also, secondly, make those who believe become disciples. The Lord wants them to become disciples. The Lord wants our children to become disciples of Christ. The Lord wants every churchgoer to become a disciple of Christ. Shortly, you'll see the clear difference between a convert, a churchgoer, and a true disciple of Christ.
And it's also required of everyone of us [Music] to undergo water baptism. It's one compulsory step we must also take as early as possible after our salvation. And the teaching should be done on a continuous basis, on a continuous basis. It just can't all be achieved in one year after salvation. The teaching must be consistent, and it's going to be overtime. But there is a minimum level of insight and knowledge that every convert of Christ must have about the kingdom, the doctrines that are acceptable, so wherever they find themselves, they will be in a position to differentiate the right and the wrong way to worship God.
So, beyond the water baptism and exposing yourself or exposing them to consistent teaching, the Lord wants us to take this assignment very seriously of focusing on at least one person, at least one person. Most churches, ministries, ministers, and disciples of Christ will want to say at least a minimum of one disciple in a year, one in a year, at least one in a year. We're not talking of converts now, we're talking of a disciple.
So, who is a disciple? Who is a disciple? Because there's a difference between a convert and a disciple. A disciple is someone who believes in his master's vision, teachings, and core beliefs, and then follows him by living according to his master's ideas. A disciple of Christ is a committed believer, dedicated and faithful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's spirit-filled, spirit-filled, broken, and obedient. He's a spirit-filled, broken, and obedient Christian.
Now, these are signs you will see in a true disciple of Christ. The first sign is sincere repentance, sincere repentance. Matthew 3:1-2. The sincere fear of God will exist even in his or her private life. That's the proof that this person has changed, is now in Christ. She is now in Christ. There will be resentment of sin, resentment of sin. And one of the follow-ups to that will be that that person will also begin, will become uncomfortable with his or her partners in sin. You'll no longer be comfortable with your very close association with them, especially in circumstances that could easily lead to whatever was ungodly that you used to do together before.
Number two: Brokenness and willingness to obey God. Brokenness and willingness to obey God. In the life of a true disciple, you will willingly respond to the word of God, the word you hear from the pulpit, from sermons, from preachings and teachings, from counsel of spirit-filled people.
Number three: There will be a strong desire for the word of God, strong desire for the word of God. True disciple of Christ, you will begin, you will love Bible study, you will love Bible study. You love reading the Bible. You will engage in consistent Bible study. You will buy, you will buy Christian books, you will buy Christian literature, and you will read them faith-based on a regular basis. You will buy them, you will read them. You'll be hungry for such types of Christian literature.
Number four: Heartfelt prayers and intercession. A disciple knows how to pray. A mature disciple must know how to pray. One of the ways you develop yourself spiritually into maturity in prayer is through daily personal devotion. You raise an altar to the Lord, a time every day. It may not be absolutely at that particular time, but most of the time, most appropriate time, depending on your own circumstances, that you meet with the Lord every day in praise and worship, in thanksgiving, and in prayer. Then the word study. When you become a disciple, you will begin to engage in intercession, intercession, intercession. There will be this burden for you to begin to pray for the salvation of your friends, the salvation of your friends, the salvation of your family members, the salvation of your benefactors, anyone that is dear to your heart. You will begin to pray for them without them asking you to do so. You will attend prayer meetings. You will attend prayer meetings. When you become a disciple, you will attend prayer meetings. You will also, in addition to your prayer, fast as often as necessary, as often as necessary.
Number five: There will be increased passion, zeal, and commitment. There will be increased passion, zeal, and commitment. People will observe it. People will observe it, starting from your home. People will observe it. There will be increased passion, there will be increased zeal, increased commitment for the things of God. There will be more zeal for service, for the Lord, service to the Lord. That zeal will be there. And that is why you see that the moment you people mature as believers, as disciples, majority of them at that phase offer themselves to become workers in the church where they worship. You would personally engage in evangelism, personally engage in evangelism.
Number six: You will physically attend fellowship and prayer meetings. You would personally attend all church services and special programs. And this is the proof: even when your usual means of transportation to church is not available, you will still go to church.
Number seven: There will be, you have a serious burden for evangelism and soul winning. You have a serious burden for evangelism and soul winning. There will be increased burden for evangelism. You have a strong passion for souls. You will equally want members of your family to be saved. You will equally want your friends to be saved. And gradually, you start writing down names of people for whom you are praying for their salvation. There will be increased private intercession for salvation of loved ones, salvation of friends, salvation of neighbors, and other unsaved souls.
Number eight: You will give more time for the things of God. You will give more time for the things of God. You will give more time. You can't have revival without repentance. You can't have revival without repentance. So you see someone that wasn't saved before, around you, around the family, now talking so much about Christ. There must be a proof. And one of the immediate proofs of real transformation unto Christ is repentance, genuine repentance. Genuine repentance. Your family members will observe it. People, your neighbors will observe it. Your closest friends and associates will observe it. So under number eight, you will give more time for the things of God. That is a sign showing your level of maturity in the Lord as a disciple. There will be this willingness to spend quality time with God, quality time with God. You will create time to attend to the things of God. You will never be in a hurry to leave God's presence. You will never be in a hurry to leave God's presence. You'll be very punctual in your arrival time for church or spiritual related meetings and programs, and you will not mind arriving church earlier for a program in order to get a good seat in the venue. Those are the signs, those are the signs that show how much your heart is yearning for the Lord.
Number nine: You will endlessly desire the anointing and grace of God. You will endlessly desire the anointing and grace of God. You will be tested for the filling of the Holy Spirit. You'll be tested for it. There will be this hunger for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and having received that, you will be tested for fresh filling of the Holy Spirit as often as possible.
Number ten: There will be positive changes in your mindset, your character, and your attitude. There will be positive changes in your mindset, in your character, and in your attitude. Your lifestyle will change. Your lifestyle will change. Your lifestyle will change. A disciple cannot be a member of a secret cult. A disciple, a true disciple, you cannot be a member of a secret cult. Your mindset will change. Your perception of life issues will change. Your attitude will change. Your behavior will change. Your personal conduct will change. In times of crisis, you would rather face the worst conditions than seek help from a questionable source, from a questionable spiritual channel. In times of crisis, in times of critical illness, prolonged barrenness, you will rather remain in that situation than seek help from a questionable spiritual channel. These are the signs of a real and a true disciple of Christ.
Number eleven, twelve of them. You will become more honest. You'll become more honest, sincere, and faithful in your actions and relationships. These are the true signs of a true disciple of Christ. You will become more honest. You become more honest. You become more sincere. You become more faithful in your actions, in your relationships.
Number twelve: You will begin to exhibit genuine agape love. That's the pure love of Christ, the pure love of God. You love unconditionally. You love without expecting anything back.
So, our Lord Jesus has given us the mandate corporately as a church, as a ministry, and also individually to follow up every new convert and every new member of the church to become real and true disciples. And the process of achieving this is discipleship. Discipleship is the act of teaching converts to observe and obey the commandments of the Lord, and also begin to also practice the ways of the Lord. Discipleship is central to the growth of the believer. It ensures that the crowd becomes an army of believers, and converts become believers. The process of discipleship.