THE GREAT COMMISSION – PART 3 SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL

SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)

TOPIC: THE GREAT COMMISSION – PART 3 (BAPTIZE, TEACH, OBSERVE)

DATE: 21ST APRIL 2024

BIBLE TEXT: MATTHEW 28:18-20

Well, as you know, I’ve been doing a Series on: “THE GREAT COMMISSION.”

In Part 1 we looked at the initial Command “GO!” And we’ve looked at the fact that going is not just about moving, but also carrying something with us.

In Part 2 we talked about Discipleship – Which is the main task of the Great Commission. And that’s what we looked at last week.

Today we are going a little further to examine the Great Commission; and we are going to look at what it means to us, and how to achieve Discipleship.

Today I want to talk about the Assignment of the Church or the Great Commission: BAPTISE, TEACH, OBSERVE.

When we talk about the Assignment of the Church, we sometimes limit it only to Preaching the Gospel; leading People to Christ or Soul Winning – Which is great.

But that is only part of the Great Commission – That is actually the Introduction.

But the Question is: What do you do with the Person who has come to know Jesus Christ as Lord?

What do you do as a Christian?

After you get Born Again, what are you supposed to be doing with your Life?

When we bring or lead People to Christ, what are we supposed to do with them further?

All these are what we want to pay our attention to today;

Because the Christian Life is not just about going to Church, dressing nicely, having a great time, listening to great music and meeting friends, and all that – It’s all part of it. But there is a greater reason why Jesus Christ told us to do His Work. And when we become Christians, we must be about that business.

We are going to look at Discipleship; but today I am going to look at the steps that Jesus gave for us to disciple People as Christians.

In this Part 3 we are going to focus on Three (3) Words: Baptise, Teach, Observe.

These are the three (3) Actions that Jesus told us to undertake as we disciple the Nations.

Let’s go back to our Primary Bible Text which we’ve been looking at from Part 1 – And that is Matthew 28:18-20. And let’s hear the reading of God’s Word;

Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Jesus says the reason you go to the Nations is to disciple them – It means that you are going to transform Nations.

That would include individuals; but it also includes Communities of People, Ethnic Groups.

All kinds of People who come to Christ must be transformed.

And the Process of Transformation comes through discipling them.

So He talked about Three (3) Things – And I’m going to occupy our thoughts with them today:

1. BAPTISE:

The Word ‘Baptise’ literarily means to immerse into. To deeply be submerged into something.

He says you should Baptise them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The clear thing we get here about baptism is that it is both Physical and Spiritual.

I know some of you have been baptised; and some of you don’t really think it’s important. But it is a “Real Command” from Jesus.

He said, “baptise them” – It means that everybody who comes to Jesus Christ must be baptised. It’s not Optional.

And He says, you baptise them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Now, most of us are familiar with Baptism – That it means you immerse somebody into water and bring them up.

That is the Physical act – You put the Person in the water.

But you don’t keep them there forever – You bring them up.

Because if you keep them down for ever, they will die.

… So this is the Physical Action that takes place.

But there is also a Spiritual act that is taking place at the time you are doing this Physical act.

Because that Person is being identified with Christ in His Death and Resurrection.

So Jesus Christ is saying: Baptise them – Every Believer must be immersed.

There are several Church Traditions that baptise infants.

We do not belong to that Tradition – We believe that for a Person to be baptised, they must understand what is taking place. And they must have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour before they are baptised.

Why did Jesus say that a Person must be baptised?

Why did Jesus say that a Person who would be His Disciple; a Person who would live for Him must be Baptised?

He has His reasons:

I. It means to identity them with Christ.

Those who are baptised by immersion, Spiritually they are baptised into Christ.

This is a Physical Action with a Spiritual meaning – The Person is being baptised into Christ; identifying with two important things about Christ:

• His Death, when put down.
• And His Resurrection, when pulled up.

So when a Person is baptised, he is saying, “I died with Christ, and I have resurrected with Christ. I am identifying with Christ”.

It doesn’t mean that we just deep People into water and bring them out.

I mean, you can do all of that; but there has to be a meaning; there has to be a sense that, at this Point my Life is surrendered to Christ. I am identifying with Him, I am part of Him, and I am committed to living for Him.

A Discipled Christian is the Person who has a sense of Identity with Christ Jesus.

• We don’t baptise People into our Church;
• We don’t baptise them into our Community alone;

We baptise them into Christ – They identify with Christ

And the Bible actually says something about it in Galatians 3:27-28 – For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither Male nor Female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

II. Apart from Identifying with Christ; Baptism identifies every Believer with the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is the Community of Believers who believe in Jesus Christ.

And Paul says the Body of Christ has no Male or Female; no Jew or Gentile.

And in our sense we can say – Black or White, Rich or Poor, Clergy or Congregation.

We are all baptised into Christ.

And a true Disciple is one who sees himself as part of every other Christian.

Jesus Christ warns His Disciples not to see themselves as different Nations, but as one Nation, one Kingdom, a Group of People belonging to Christ – That’s what God wants us to have as a Church.

That we don’t build a Church where People see themselves and say, “Oh! I belong to this Group, I don’t belong to that. That’s not my friend; that’s a different tribe, I can’t deal with them.”

The Christian Life goes beyond that!

We are baptised into Christ and we are baptised into the Body of Christ:

And in that Process, we see every Believer as our Brother and our Sister in Christ Jesus.

The Brotherhood, the Sisterhood of Believers; of those who are committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is part of the Great Commission.

So when we go out as a Church and we bring People into Church, we don’t bring them into Church and discriminate against them.

That is why we have to be careful as a Church; that we don’t become so caught by external identification that we lose the Spirit leading.

In our Church we are going to have People who come in there, who don’t look like you – Probably they come in dreadlocks and you say, “A Christian should not have dreadlocks; I don’t like the way they are dressed; I don’t like this about them. Why is she wearing all these kind of makeup and all of that?” We have to look beyond that.

And of course, People have to make adjustments in their own lives; on how they dress, how they Present themselves.

But we shouldn’t let Limitations keep us from welcoming People into the Body of Christ.

That’s what we do here in our Church.

When People enter the Church, we don’t ask, what tribe are you?

Some Churches have Scissors at the entrance so that if your hair is not Properly done they bring it to the required Standard Measurement. But we don’t do that here.

We believe People should come in and identify with Christ as the Scripture teaches.

That is what it means to disciple someone – And that is Part of the Great Commission.

A Church that really wants to reach out to the world must not become concerned about how People look externally.

… That’s not all, Jesus says yes Baptise them. But He says;

2. TEACH:

You are to teach them – That’s an important Part.

People come to Church, they get Teaching.

Teaching means to explain and to instruct.

The Great Commission is not just about Proclaiming the Gospel, but it is also about Teaching those who have received the Gospel.

And unfortunately these days, especially in Charismatic Churches, there is very little emphasis on Teaching.

People want to go to Church, they want Breakthrough, Favour, Increase.

We have so many problems and we put our Problems ahead of our Discipleship.

Jesus puts it differently; He says if you seek God as His Disciple; seek God and His Righteousness, all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33).

And He knows you need a Breakthrough, Financial Favour, a wife, and a husband – He knows that you need these things but don’t make that your Priority.

We come to be Discipled, to be Christlike and then He takes care of all our other Needs.

If we put our Needs ahead, we’ll never become really Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They would come into the Church; they may come in bad shapes; but through Teachings there would be Transformations.

HOW DO WE TEACH?

I. First, we instruct them with the Bible:

We don’t instruct them with our words – And that is so important.

These days a lot of Pastors think that the way to disciple People is to train People to be like them, or fit into something they believe in.

And whether that thing fits into the Bible or not, they just want People who are committed to their way of doing things.

But we don’t do that in Discipling People.

Remember, we are not Discipling People after ourselves.

We are not Discipling People to be like us; we are Discipling People to be like Christ. And the measure of that is the Word of God.

So we Teach them the Word of God – We put the Word of God Central to what People hear.

And I am committed to that – I am committed to the Teaching of the Word. And going deeper with you as we explore deeper in the Word of God because, that’s how we get discipled.

It’s not just picking Bible Verses here and there that suits us – You pick a Psalm here, something from Isaiah that deals with your Enemies, and that gives you Power.

It’s good to pick Verses that inspire you but the Christian Life is not about Cherry Picking; Picking Verses that inspire you, that make you feel good.

The Christian Life is learning the Totality of what God wants you to teach.

To disciple People, they have to be instructed in the Word of God and from the Word of God, not from my Books. Not from somebody else’s books, but from the Word of God.

Of course if there are Books we have to read, we read them.

But learn to make the Bible an important Part of the Discipleship Program.

And to teach, we instruct them with our Exemplary Christian Living. Because every Believer is called to be a Disciple.

But at the same time, every Believer is called to help disciple other People who come to Christ.

Let’s say somebody comes to Church, wants to learn the Christian Life; we say go to the Bible and teach them the Bible; and then they will look at your Lifestyle and our Lifestyle is totally different – We are Judgemental, and we are not kind. There is no Generosity in your Spirit.

People come to Church and you just treat them harsely. And still we say we are discipling them.

No! Because if we do that, we are not setting the right example.

II. You Teach by Exemplary Christian Lifestyle:

Paul says you immitate me as I immitate Christ.

So my job as a Pastor is not just to teach the Bible; but to also live an exemplary Christian Life.

I don’t want People to say, “Oh! He is a Man of God – Touch not the Anointed.”

That’s not the way we look at it.

You want to look at a Person who says he is a Pastor, and you want to say he is an Exemplary Christian – Not that he is Anointed; not that he has Spiritual Immunity, not that he has a Special Grace; but he is Exemplary.

When People come to our Church, they should say, “these People really know their Bible.”

But not only that, “they are living it out!”

The Questions you’ll want to ask yourself are:

• Is my Life Exemplary?
• Can I take a New Convert and say, “I just want to help you live a Christlike Life; and I want you to watch the way I live?”
• Would that be a Good Example to that Person?
• If that Person followed you, will they feel that they are living a better Life?

So you have to think about it!

And it’s scary when we ask ourselves these Questions; because all of us know we are Human, and we know our Limitations.

God knows our Limitations, but He still calls us to live Exemplary lives.

People who come to Church are going to learn from the People they meet in Church:

I. If the People they meet in Church are Loving, they will be Loving;

II. If the People they meet in Church are mean Spirited, they will be mean spirited;

III. IIf the People they meet in Church are Self-Centered, they will be Self-Centered. Then they are going to think the Christian Life itself is Self-Centered.

And I Pray that when People come to our Churches and they encounter you, they will remain – Amen.

By the way, you are the Best Christians that we have – We can’t get anything better than you.

It doesn’t mean that you are living the best Life; but that’s all we have.

So when People come to this Church, most People are not going to meet the Pastor – A few People meet me directly.

But most People are not meeting me – They are going to meet Ushers, Counsellors, People in the Choir, People who are in the Praise Team – People who lead in Praise and Worship. People who play in the Band because they are faces of the Church.

So if you play the Band, you are saying, I stand here in the Band, but my Life also is consistent in Christ.

And so if after Service you are doing something else; you are putting off somebody whom you have discipled: and you are directly against the Great Commission.

I am not putting the Praise Team on the Spotlight but they have to be Mindful, because they are the ones who stand on the stage with Pastors.

You are bragging that you have been in Church for a very long time and that you know a lot.

It is good for you to have been in church for a very long time; the question is:

• Have you been Discipled by Christ?
• Is your Life Exemplary?
• And for the New People to whom you are bragging your longevity; do they see you as Exemplary Christian?

So that’s how we Teach – With the Word of God and with our Exemplary Christian Life.

The third (3rd) and final thing Jesus said, “Teach them to observe all things that I have said.”

3. OBSERVE:

To Observe means to keep and to honour.

And He didn’t say you are to observe just what your Church teaches; but you are to observe all things.

It’s all Centered on Christ Jesus – That must be the way that Nations are Discipled.

In fact, when you study Church History, you would know that even in Nations like Europe, before many of the Nations in Europe and the tribes of Europe came into Christianity; these are some of the things that transformed the Society; gave them better work ethics, better ways of working, better ways of Stewarding their Assets, better ways of treating the weak and the Vulnerable.

It’s all Christlike, and it transformed their Society.

Unfortunately, most of those Societies are turning away from the Foundation that gave them the Morality to build the Societies they have built.

But we in Africa must do better.

“… To Observe all things that I teach.”

What does it mean to us?

It means that when we bring People to Christ; when we go out, whether through Preaching – Whatever we are doing; when we bring People to Church we must Change them.

2. And it also means to Charge them to honour what Christ has instituted.

Christ instituted His Church; He Changed them to be baptised, to Partake of the Lord’s Table – Holy Communion.

Those are Change. It’s a command and we must observe it.

That’s why, if you are in Church and you have not been baptised – I know you will say well, “I was baptised as an infant.*

But at the time you were baptised, Somebody stood in for you and said “well, he has made a Decision to live for Jesus Christ.”

Since you’ve grown up, you need to make a Decision to God and say “now I want to Publicly identify with Christ: I need to go where He went.”

Remember Jesus Himself said – He had to be baptised to fulfill all Righteousness.

If you are now saying, there are imperatives in our Christian lives and there are lots of options; then you are not a Christian.

If you are a Christian, do what Christ says – You need to be baptised.

So if you’ve not be immersed in water Physically, to show your identity with Christ; you need to do so.

He says, “teach them to observe to do all things…”

• And He Commanded that we be Baptised;
• He Commanded that we Partake of Holy Communion in Remembrance of Him.
• He Commanded us to walk in Love.

If you look at the Totality of the New Testament, He Commanded us to be a Church – To come together in Fellowship; to assemble together, to be His Body and to represent Him.

So these are the things that are important for Disciples:

• You cannot choose when you go to Church, when you don’t want to go to Church.
• You cannot say, “today I want to rest, I don’t feel like it.”

It’s not about your feeling my friends; it’s about the Command of Jesus.

For those of us who are in the Church, who are going to bring People to Christ, these are the things we need to do:

• We are bringing them to Christ.
• We are bringing them to Identify with Christ.
• We are bringing them to be Baptised into Christ.
• We are bringing them to be Taught of Christ Jesus.
• We are bringing them to observe to do all that Christ Commanded.

And it’s not just the individual, it is also for families, etc.

• And that we must be committed as a Church that obeys the Great Commission.

By going out, bringing People in, Baptise them, Teach them to Observe everything that Christ taught.

And of course, the first way to do that is for an individual to decide – I need Jesus in my Life. I want Jesus to come into my heart; I want to live for Him, I want to have a Brand New Life in Christ Jesus, I want to be Born Again.

ALTAR CALL

And if you are here, Inclusive those reading now on the Label of DMC and you are saying, Pastor I really want to start the Journey;

I want to live for Jesus, I want to be a Disciple of Jesus.

I want to serve Him with my Life, I want to Dedicate my Life to Him.

We are going to Pray a very short Prayer.

Maybe some of you have Prayed this Prayer before;

Or may be you have been inconsistent in your desire for Christ; you can join the Prayer.

If you are here’s this Morning, Inclusive those reading now on the Label of DMC, and you are saying, Pastor, I want to start a New Journey with Jesus. I want to really work for You, LORD.

If that is your desire, I want you to lift up your Right Hand wherever you are and say with me:

Heavenly Father, I come to you today just as I am. I am a Sinner, I cannot save myself.

I Thank You Father, that Jesus died for me on the Cross of Calvary, to give me a New Life.

And today, I receive You as my Lord and Personal Saviour.

Lord Jesus come into my Heart; I have decided to follow You and to do Your Will all the days of my Life.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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