Jesus’ last words are important. This great commission is also imperative. “Go,” “make disciples,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” are all in the imperative tense. This is a command from our authoritative Lord now enshrined as a key passage in his authoritative word. The great commission is also inclusive. The aforementioned verbs are all plural, meaning Christ is speaking to all believers, not just pastors and missionaries. The great commission is important, imperative, inclusive, and inviting. Jesus’ last words in these last words include “I am with you.” Christ is inviting us into his presence in a powerful way, to access his power for an important purpose, and never is the Lord more with his people than when we are about the business of discipleship.

What must we do to do this blessed and necessary “main thing” of discipleship?

First of all, we must make sure that we are genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a fact of nature and scripture that apple trees produce apples, peanut plants produce peanuts and genuine Christians produce other genuine Christians. Before you can make disciples, you must make sure that you are a disciple.

Assurance of salvation comes from inward peace and outward fruit. The inward peace is applied by the Holy Spirit to genuine disciples who have come to the Lord by grace through faith, not pride through works. Fruit comes forth in obvious love and labor for the Lord, joy and generosity in the cause of Christ, and the peace that passes through troubled times without turning one’s back on the Lord, his word, and his church.

Assurance of salvation comes from present discipline not a past decision. How many have joined the church but never genuinely joined in church work? Jesus said, “Follow Me,” not pray a prayer. He did not issue a command to make decisions, but make disciples.

Secondly, we must seek out lost people, share the gospel with them and speak to them of repentance and faith.

The outward lifestyle of an obvious Christian goes a long way in bringing other people to Christ. But it does not go all the way. Sooner than later, we must use words (ref. Romans 10:17). “Good news” is news, it contains words, it is plain language to plain people about their plain and simple need of salvation.

Though this will require another sermon to detail, don’t depend on your pastor and a so-called “altar call” to be the discipleship plan in your church. It has yielded a century or so of rotten fruit. Learn to share the gospel and your testimony in a relatively short presentation, and share it at least with your circle of lost family and friends. Disciples are made when lost people hear the gospel from believers and repent and believe themselves.

Thirdly, we must help them profess their faith in baptism and become responsible members of the church.

You don’t have to be baptized to be saved, but if you are saved you have to be baptized. And while I have all the respect in the world for fellow believers who believe in paedo-baptism, I think credo-baptism better hits the biblical mark.

And if things have gone right up to this point, if the gospel has been lived and shared, if the gospel has been responded to properly in faith and repentance, and if the new believer has been gladly and willingly baptized by an officer of the church, then you won’t have to beg that new believer to participate in church life in membership. The Holy Spirit will ensure that they won’t want to miss a day, especially a Sunday.

Fourthly, we must teach and train them to study, learn and apply the word of God to their lives.

The main idea involved in making disciples is teaching. Professions of faith and baptisms mean nothing if the professing Christian isn’t under the guiding influence of a professor of Christianity. It is the Christian way for professors of faith and professors of the Bible to hold classes one on one, in small groups and in large assemblies.

Personally, when you are blessed to be instrumental in someone coming to Christ, your responsibility does not end, it begins. You are their first teacher. You may not have the gift of teaching, but you do have the gift of gift-giving, so give them a good Bible and good Christian books. And give them the example and encouragement to get under the sound of gifted teachers in the church.

And in the larger assembly, when the church gathers for worship, discipleship is woven throughout. Our hymns serve to train us in our faith. Our pastors preach biblical sermons to build us up in our most holy faith. And the presence of the Holy Spirit and strong saints among us inspire us to be better disciples, better followers, and better worshipers of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Finally, we will watch them prove to be true disciples when they influence others to become true disciples, too.

Discipleship never ends because when it ends it simply begins, again. Christians produce Christians. A genuine disciple will go forth and somehow and some way make another disciple. And Jesus Christ smiles greatly upon the believers and the believing church who put into practice this main thing again and again and again. The Christ who is worthy of worship is worthy to be followed, and worthy of every effort to win other followers. Church life is not about buildings, budgets and business meetings. It is about worship, about being and making disciples, and about other things that flow from these. So let us be determined that “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”