The document discusses the third principle of effective ministry laid out by Jesus - having a clear message. [1] Jesus told the apostles to preach that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand". [2] The kingdom of heaven can be understood in three ways: conversion, consecration, and Christ's glorious return. [3] However, many churches preach a diluted form of the gospel rather than clearly explaining that the gospel calls us to fully commit ourselves and become true disciples of Jesus by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following him completely.

1. Principles for effective ministry
(Part 2)
Mathew 10:5 to 15

2. I – Historical and contextual background
Last time, we learned how the rest of
Chapter 10 of Mathew, after the Apostles
are introduced is .divided into three section.
In the next series of sermons, We will be
dealing with the first section which
discusses the principles Jesus laid down on
how to effectively do the work of the ministry
as he told the Apostles. We learned first
about the first principle and that is a Divine
commissioning (vs. 5a) The second
principle is A central objective in the
ministry. (vs. 5b, 6) Now we will discuss the
third principle and will spend much time
here as this is of vital importance

3. III - A CLEAR MESSAGE
“And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. – Matt 10:7”
.
Many people fail to understand and
receive the Gospel because they have not
heard it clearly presented. When the Gospel
is clouded with political, cultural and social
causes, its message becomes unclear and
its power becomes diluted.
The message Jesus gave the apostles to preach was
simply stated. In the Bible, the Kingdom of heaven can be viewed
in 3 aspects. First it is manifest in conversion, when a person
enters sovereign rule of God by trusting Christ for salvation.
(Mathew 18:3) Second, it is manifest in consecration, as believers
live out the divine principles of the Kingdom (Romans 14:17) and
third in its glorious form when Christ returns and reigns and sets
up his eternal Kingdom. (Mathew 25:31)

4. While it is true that churches has been preaching the
Gospel message today, there are lots of misconception on what
the Gospel message is. In fact most so called “evangelical”
churches has been preaching a diluted form of Gospel all along.
.
Let us examine the key passages on what Jesus himself
says what is the Gospel or the message of the Kingdom is:
1.) Mark 1:14,15 says that after John the Baptist was put in prison
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God which is
“Repent and believe the Gospel”
2.) In Mathew 28:19 and 20 Jesus “Great Commission” to his
disciples is to go and make learners, or disciples of all nations and
to teach them all things whatsoever he has commanded them. In
Mark 16:15, Mark’s equivalent of the great commission is when
Jesus tells his disciples to “preach the Gospel.” In other words the
Gospel is to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

5. So the Gospel that Jesus preached is to become his true
disciple. So how do you become a true disciple of Jesus Christ ?
Jesus himself tells us this in Mathew 16:24 that in order to become a
true disciple you must:
.
1.) Deny yourself – You must to a point in your life that you see your
absolute sinfulness, total depravity and spiritual bankruptcy before
God and that you cannot save yourself, trusting that only Jesus
Christ can save you. (Mathew 5:3,4, Luke 18: 9 to 14, 18 to 22)
2.) Take up your cross – You must be willing to surrender
completely your own self (Luke 9:23, 1 Corinthians 15:31), to be
alienated from the world, to be persecuted and suffer (Mathew 5:10,
Mathew 10:16-24) even give up personal and family relationships
(Luke 14:25 to 27 and be ready to give up everything (Luke 14:28 –
33) and willing to die all for the sake of Jesus Christ. (Luke 9:24)

6. 3.) Follow Christ – You must be willing to live the “life style” of a
disciple and submit to his being Master over your life. (Note that the
greek word used is the word “akoloutheito” which is in the present
particle or literally “Let him be following me.”) (Romans 10:9,
Galatians 2:20) .
Becoming a true Christian a disciple of Jesus Christ means
COMMITMENT. While becoming mature in Christ is a process and
living a godly life and doing good works is a direct result of salvation
and not a pre-requisite, the willingness to live a life of a disciple
and complete surrender to Christ is certainly a prerequisite to
becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ. You cannot make a
partial commitment to Christ. The only way to become a true
Christian, truly saved and truly a disciple is to make a full
commitment to Jesus Christ. (John 6:26, 53, 60, 66 – 69)This is the
Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus Christ as his disciples to preach,
the reign of Christ over the hearts of man.This is the true Gospel, a
Gospel of commitment and complete surrender to Jesus Christ that
we are suppose to preach.