The Bible Purpose For Church Discipleship

Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Luke 8:11-15, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

What is discipling? It is part of The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, to "GO YE" into all the world preaching the Gospel. And then water baptize those converts as a public profession of their faith. Water baptism symbolizes THE GOSPEL (i.e., the death on a cross, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus the third day). And then The Great Commission includes "teaching" (indoctrinating) new converts with all the things Christ taught us (i.e., the truths of the inspired Word of God).

The simple yet profound idea behind The Great Commission is for the Gospel (Good News) to perpetuate itself. That is, we lead someone to Christ, and then TEACH THEM to go lead others to Christ; and then those new converts go TEACH THEIR CONVERTS to go win more lost sinners to Christ. Double a penny each day for 30 days and you'll have over $1,000,000 at the end. Do the math if you don't believe me! This is the magic of compounding interest, and the idea behind The Great Commission.

Sadly, nearly all Baptist churches today don't teach soulwinning, so with each new convert the line of faith dies. I praise God for every soul saved in churches, but God's perfect will for EVERY SAINT is to mature to bear fruit. We have failed utterly in this spiritual duty. 1st Corinthians 9:16, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”

This is what the curious parable of The Sower And The Seeds in Luke 8:11-15 is about. I've heard false teachers like Ray Comfort and Paul Washer errantly teach that this parable is about getting saved. Ray Comfort says the 2nd group in Luke 8:13, who had shallow roots, lost their salvation. Ray is WRONG! This parable is about soulwinning, not salvation. The "seed" is the Word of God according to Luke 8:11.

1. The first group heard the Gospel (the seed - 1st Peter 1:23), but the Devil came along and took away the seed, so they didn't get saved.
2. The 2nd group DID get saved. We know this because the seed began to grow, but due to having no strong roots, the plant was uprooted when the winds of persecution blew. I read online that The Beatles member John Lennon became a Christian, seeking answers. Sadly, John reached out to Oral Roberts (whom John had seen on TV). Oral Roberts mistreated John, and the public persecuted John for his new found faith, so he fell away from maturing and gave up on it. I believe John Lennon is in heaven today. This is what Luke 8:13 is saying, for people like John Lennon, who never grew deep roots that cannot be uprooted.
3. The 3rd group in Luke 8:14 were choked by the cares, riches and pleasures of this temporal earthly life. This is where I think 90% of saints are today. We're all so busy with life, work and family that we have no time for soulwinning. They bring forth no fruit to perfection the Bible says. This parable is about maturing, growing in God's grace, to become a soulwinner.
4. Ah, I love verse 15, "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." This is what proper church discipleship should produce, a fervent soulwinning Christian. I wanted to share this with you, because I think this truth is so important, which we rarely hear taught anymore. God bless.

If today's church pastors and laymen fail to TEACH SOULWINNING to all of our converts, then we are utterly failing to obey The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20. It reminds me of the old truthful cliché: “Give a man a fish and you've fed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you've fed him for a lifetime.” Yes, it is so true! That is what is wrong with this spoiled rotten millennial generation today, who blame everyone for their failures except themselves, expecting a handout from society instead of making their own way by hard work, purpose and tenacity.

The same applies to soulwinning! We've got a bunch of lazy pastors and churches today! Everything rises and falls on leadership! If church leaders are too inept or lazy to go door-to-door soulwinning in public, then how can we expect church members to go soulwinning? And then when we do see people get saved here and there, we fail to train them to obey The Great Commission. The average church doesn't teach or go soulwinning. Some churches will teach soulwinning once or twice a year, but it is more of a topic that is covered once and a while, instead of a way of live for a local New Testament church. SOULWINNING ought to be the MAIN THING, not an occasional topic that is covered.

The primary purpose of church discipleship is so that our converts will become soulwinners themselves. Thank you very much for reading my blogs. To God alone be the glory. I love you (whosoever you may be) with Christ's love. Please email me if you need prayer, or have any Bible questions, that is why I am hear, to feed Jesus' sheep. God bless.

Yours Truly