After The Victory!
When a person says “yes” and prays to accept Christ you must follow
them up!
Q: How many of you have ever been mothers of infants?
Q: How many of you hope your children will grow up and have families
of their own?
1. Your new convert is an infant!
1 Peter 1:18-2:3
“For you know that it was not with perishable
things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way
of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before
the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your
sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and
glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have
purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love
for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have
been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the
living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all
their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the
flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the
word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice
and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn
babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your
salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Our spiritual children need to be fed - milk!
How many babies in the natural world know how to feed themselves when
they are first born?
Would you leave them alone to fend for themselves?
Ephesians 4:11-16
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some
to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ
may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge
of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of
the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back
and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching
and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who
is the Head, that is, Christ.”
2. Many New Converts die because of a lack of understanding
Matthew 13:19 & 23
"Listen then to what the parable of the sower
means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand
it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This
is the seed sown along the path...But the one who received the seed that
fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He
produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
But!
New converts need more than just intellectual knowledge.
They need instruction in their relationship with Jesus Christ and what
that means.
3. Your new convert needs to be rooted and established
in his or her relationship with Jesus!
Colossians 1:21-23
“And you, that were sometime alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the
body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel...” (KJV)
Colossians 2:6-7
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus
as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened
in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
Everything must be tied back to how it relates to the new believer’s
relationship with Jesus
4. There are fundamental things every new convert
must be taught!
Basic establishment in their relationship with Jesus.
Hebrews 6:1-2
"Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings
about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of
repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction
about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and
eternal judgment."
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1. Elementary teaching about Christ
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2. Repentance from acts that lead to death
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3. Faith in God
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4. Instructions about baptisms
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5. Instructions about the laying on of hands
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6. Instructions about the resurrection of the dead
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7. Instructions about eternal judgment
Implementing the Timothy Principle
2 Timothy 2:1-2
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence
of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to
teach others.”
Be strong
Entrust the truth to reliable men
They are to teach others
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We need to make sure we are strong in the Lord.
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We need to make sure we are leading others to Christ.
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The new converts we make must be grounded and established in the faith.
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They need to be taught how, and encouraged to, lead other to Jesus.
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The new believer also needs to be taught how and what to teach his converts.
When you give birth to a new believer, make sure you don’t leave them unattended!
When you give birth to a new believer, make sure you don’t leave them
on someone else’s door step!
When you lead a person to the Lord, YOU become their spiritual parent. |
