All That Jesus Taught : Bible Study Part 2 | Zac Poonen

“We continue our study today on ‘All that Jesus taught’. We were looking earlier at the importance of completing the great commission. In Mark 16:15, we have ½ of the great commission. Going to the entire world and preach the gospel to all creation and he who believes and is baptized would be saved. Which I said last time is being fulfilled by 99% of those who engage in missionary work and evangelism among Born Again Christians.

But this other half of the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is as I see it being fulfilled by 1% of Born Again Christians who engage in missionary work and preaching the gospel. This is what completes the great commission. Otherwise it is going to be like a half finish job. There is such a beauty in the symmetry of our human body. How ugly a body would look if for example ½ of my body was muscular and strong and the other half of my body was skin and bones? That would look hideous. Or if one eye was normal size and the other eye was 1% of that size or 1 ear is 1% size of the other. That’s how bad it looks when the great commission given in Mark 16 and Matthew 28 is fulfilled in an imbalance way. Mark 16:15 being emphasized to such an extent that Matthew 28: 19-20 is almost ignored. In Matthew 28:19-20, he speaks about making disciples in every nation. Not just getting them to a place where their sins are forgiven, not just getting them to a place where they are baptized but by making them disciples and then leading them on to other things. Let’s look at Matthew 28:19 and in our last study we saw the conditions of discipleship and what it means to make a person a disciple. The apostles understand it very clearly. We saw those conditions from Luke 14:25-33, he said once you make them disciples, you got to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In other words, before we baptize them. We got to present to them the claims of discipleship and say “When you come to Christ. We are not just inviting you to go to heaven when you die. We are not inviting you just to come to have your since forgiven but we are inviting you to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Not whom you occasionally visit once a week but one who’s going to be your husband.” Like when a woman marries she even gives up her parents name and she is completely one with her husband or that’s the way she should be. This is the relationship Christ wants to have with each of us. This is what it means to be a disciple. And so a woman should not enter marriage thinking that I got to spend only 1 day a week with my husband or thinking I can continue to live my own life and visit him once in a while. No! She must be made aware of the fact that in marriage it’s a total commitment to this other men whom you are going to marry. And even so, in the preaching of the gospel there must be clarity in the way that we explain to the people that we preach to. That this requires total commitment, this means discipleship, this means following the Lord. Are you ready for that? Then come, we’ll baptize you. We don’t wait till a person becomes perfect.