Life of Christ
Message 199
The Great Commission, 2
Matt 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 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. (KJV)
Mark 16:15-20
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (KJV)
Luke 24:33-53
33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. (KJV)
These words contain the essence of Jesus' commission to His church: GO, DISCIPLE, BAPTIZE, TEACH. These are the words that I want to discuss with you today.
I. GO
When I think about 'go'ing, I often think of my friend David Sitton who will fly to PNG, take a truck full of supplies to the Sepig River and then take the river upstream to a village of natives who have never heard the gospel and then try to find a way to communicate with them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We often associate this word with missionaries, preachers, or those who go door-to-door witnessing the gospel. But as I was thinking of this word, I realized something. When a person determines that God would have him go to a foreign place to minister the gospel, he/she must determine how the project is going to be financed and make arrangements for the expenses to be covered. Then he must prepare to minister to those people by learning something of them and learning their language. Once a missionary has sailed around the world to the country he is to evangelize, he must often travel overland in difficult ways to reach the people that he is going to attempt to disciple. But after all of this has been done, one thing still remains. He must begin a conversation with someone with the goal in mind of leading that person to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Often the people of God think that because they do not go on any mission trips, their job is simply to send, there is no 'go'ing for them. But every believer has someone in his/her life who is without Christ. The challenge and commission of the believer is to do exactly what the missionary must do, begin a conversation with the goal of evangelism in mind.
One of the things that we must remember is that our task is not to convert anyone to our denomination. Our task is to present before men the certain judgment of God upon sin, their impending doom unless they repent, and the provision of salvation in Jesus Christ. We are to 'go' to them with this message. And we do that by beginning a conversation. The fact that we do not go to a mission field, or even that we do not go to a stranger, is of no consequence. The charge is that we 'go.'
As we begin a new year, I want to challenge each of you to consider how you might 'go' to someone with the gospel. First, you should pray that God give you a resolve to share the gospel with someone, a resolve that will not let you go until you have seen someone come into God's kingdom. Then, you should pray for God's guidance as to the person with whom you should share God's message. Next, you should begin to pray for that person until God shows you how desperately he/she needs to be saved. You should carefully think about what you would say and how you would say it. You want the person to know that you care for him and you are not trying to push denominational religion. And you must remember that unless your words are aided by the Holy Spirit, they will amount to nothing.
You must be aware of the fact that your testimony, your manner of life, is a critical matter. If this is a person who knows you well, you must be careful of how you behave in their presence. If you have injured this person or disappointed him in the past, you must address that honestly and resolve it.
Consider that people are resistant to discussions of religion and are subject to becoming angry in such discussions. Remember that your anger will serve no purpose. The communication of the gospel depends only on the fact that you speak the truth, not that you personally convince the one with whom you are sharing the gospel.
Prayer, honesty, and humility must undergird everything you do in the effort of sharing the gospel. But determination, resolve, love for the lost and a commitment to obey the Lord Jesus Christ must keep us pressing forward in the effort.
II. Make Disciples.
The goal must not simply be that we communicate the message of the gospel but that it is received and obeyed. This, of course, brings us to the truth that only God Himself can change a heart. But that should not keep us from pressing Him in prayer, laboring over the one that He has given us to share the gospel with.
And, should the person be converted, we must not think that our task is finished. It is not enough to make a believer, we are commissioned to make a disciple. A disciple is a student, one whose life is changed, one who seeks after the truth. Truth is the essence of all education, and education is our task.
We begin with the truth of the gospel message, the reality of sin and the surety of God's judgment.
Luke 24
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
Some truths are painful and difficult to communicate. One of the most difficult to share with a person is the fact that he is a sinner.. This must not be done from self-righteousness, but from the perspective of a person who himself knows his own sinfulness.
1 Tim 1:15
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (KJV)
Sometimes this means that we directly confront some particular sins in the person's life, especially if it is someone we know well.
Mark 6:17-18
17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. (KJV)
Confronting sin in an honest and forthright way is essential to the making of a disciple. One cannot compromise nor be dishonest concerning sin and still be faithful to the command to 'disciple.' A disciple is one who has repented and one cannot repent without honestly facing sin.
III. Baptizing them.
Biblical baptism is the immersion of a repentant sinner by one who ministers the gospel. This does not mean that only an official minister can baptize. Any man who proclaims the true gospel of Jesus Christ may biblically baptize those who believe. There is no biblical example of women performing baptisms. Likewise, an immersion performed by one who proclaims a false gospel does not follow the biblical example. Neither does sprinkling, regardless of who performs it. It is obvious from the New Testament that those who were baptized were immersed. It is also obvious that they were immersed by men who preached the true gospel. We are nowhere given permission to alter the example.
Baptism is not an optional issue. We do not agree with those who say that baptism is essential to salvation, but we do affirm that it is essential to full obedience to Jesus Christ. It is not proper to make disciples and then fail to baptize them. We would also affirm that the person who refuses baptism is not a disciple.
Historically, the church buildings that were built in the early days of Christianity had baptistries capable of submerging and adult in water. In those days when buildings were generally carefully made of stone, one would think that no one would include a baptistry if the mode of baptism was optional.
We might make mention of the baptismal formula.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
We mention the Trinity in the baptismal formula because we are commanded to do so. It is an action which is so fully endorsed in heaven that each person of the Trinity adds His authority to the action. It is, therefore, essential that we take care not to improve on that which has been given us. It is the Father Who Sent the Son, the Son Who died and rose again, and the Holy Spirit Who has converted the heart of the sinner.
III. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
There are two critical ideas here: ALL THINGS, and WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED.
There is no allowance for us to fail to communicate the whole counsel of God nor for us to add to what has been commanded.
Jesus taught things that are admired by men around the world. His commandments that concern forgiveness are very popular.
Mark 11:25-26
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
(KJV)
But His commands concerning the absolute commitment of the disciple are not nearly as popular.
Matt 10:37-39
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (KJV)
His calls for holiness are often lightly regarded.
John 8:34-36
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (KJV)
And we will not even discuss the teachings of Christ concerning marriage and divorce.
Matt 19:9
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (KJV)
But we are commanded and commissioned to teach all things that Jesus has commanded. We may leave nothing out.
By the same token, we must be careful that we not affirm things which Jesus did not affirm. We must carefully examine that He brought some things across from the Old Testament and added to them, but some things He did not bring across.
Matt 19:16-19
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (KJV)
Acts 15:28-29
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (KJV)
When we teach, therefore, we pay careful attention to those things which Jesus and the apostles affirmed. We do not presume to add to those things from the Old Testament because they deliberately left some of those things off. When we disciple, we do so by affirming what Jesus commanded and nothing else.
IV. And, lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.
Our confidence in the Presence of Jesus among us should be firm as we go in His name and obey His commands. There is no real reason for us to take comfort in His Presence if we are not doing what He has commanded.
We must take seriously this charge that Jesus left with His church. We must take it seriously as a church and as individuals. We must go with the gospel as a group and go as individuals. When we do so, in the proper way, we will know the special assistance of His Holy Spirit.