Go And Make Disciples!

INTRODUCTION (SECURE ATTENTION) & BACKGROUND OF THE PASSAGE:

PRAY before starting the sermon.

ILLUSTRATION: {According to a study conducted by LifeWay Research, 85% of all believers in the age group, 18-29 agree that they have a responsibility to share the gospel with unbelievers, 69% of those same people feel comfortable sharing their faith.

However, only 25% of them look for ways to share the gospel.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/may/state-of-evangelism.html}

One of the serious problems that plague the Church today is the lack of evangelism.

There are several reasons Christians don’t share the gospel.

(1) Some think that they have to master the Bible in order to share the simple gospel of Christ.

Now you don’t really have to become a Bible expert to share the gospel.

If you have understood the basic gospel adequately, you are ready to share the gospel.

(2) Others are afraid of losing friends or being disliked or mocked by others.

These Christians are paralyzed by fear of rejection.

But God did not give us a spirit of fear.

(3) Some think that they are not up to the mark in their spiritual lives.

Consequently, they feel that they can’t share the gospel because their conscience itself is not clear before God.

This must not be an excuse, but a reminder that we need to clean up our lives.

(4) Some wrongly assume that God will eventually allow all people to get into heaven.

But listen to what Dr. Charles Stanley said: "If there existed another way to heaven, God did the most wicked thing to send His Son to die for us."

(5) Some Christians just don’t care for the lost.

They have lost the passion and burden for the lost people.

That kind of apathy is a huge hindrance to evangelism.

Tim Keller recently tweeted that “Apathy is a bigger problem than atheism for Christianity.”

(6) Many Christians think that evangelism is optional.

But today’s text tells us that doing evangelism is not “A Great Suggestion,” but “The Great Commission.”

Would you take God’s Word and turn your Bibles with me to MATTHEW 28:18-20?

I have entitled today’s sermon as: “GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES!”

CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE TEXT: Today’s text tells us that the Risen King’s commission to His disciples to make disciples of all nations is based on His universal authority/power and fulfilled with His permanent presence.

Please note that this commission is given by the risen Christ.

If Christ is not raised from the dead, this commission would be meaningless.

But Jesus has indeed risen from the dead and he has all authority in the universe and thus we need to heed his great commission.

When Jesus claimed that he has all authority, he claimed that he is the King of the universe.

After Jesus’ resurrection, this risen King tells His eleven disciples to meet Him on a mountain in Galilee.

The mountain (v. Matthew 28:16) recalls the other sites of revelation in the Gospel (Matthew 5:1: Sermon on the Mount; Matthew 17:1: Mount of Transfiguration).

Jesus is the new Moses who gives new commandments.

On this mountain, Jesus gave important instructions to His disciples which is generally referred to as “The Great Commission.”

THE PURPOSE BRIDGE: To encourage the members of EAGC to obey the Great Commission.

FALLEN CONDITION FOCUS: Already dealt with above.

CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE SERMON: When we obey the Great Commission of the Risen King, we are promised His power and presence.

Our text can be divided into 3 parts.

I. THE RISEN KING COMMISSIONS US TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.

Read verses 19-20a.

“‘All’ dominates Matthew 28:18-20 and ties these verses together: all authority, all nations, all things, all the days [ESV: always].” (Carson)

Make disciples of all nations, not just the Jewish people.

The theme of all nations (or all peoples) coming to Christ is brought to a climax; however, this theme runs throughout the gospel of Matthew (cf. Mt. 2:1-2 [Magi]; 8:5-13 [Centurion’s servant]; Mt. 15:22-28 [Canaanite woman’s daughter]).

With the words "all nations," Matthew's gospel returns to the theme introduced in the very first verse (refer 1:1)—that the blessings promised to Abraham and through him to all the peoples on earth (refer Ge 12:3) are now to be fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.

Jesus’ universal Lordship (cf. v. 18) demands a universal mission.

Disciples of rabbis normally made disciples of their own when they became rabbis, but Jesus is more than a normal rabbi (Matthew 28:19) and summons us to make disciples for him alone and not for ourselves (Matthew 23:8-10).

The imperative (make disciples) is the central focus of the Great Commission and the Greek participles (go, baptizing, and teaching) describe how discipling is done.

A. Going.

Making disciples involves going.

And the Book of Acts shows that the disciples did go to the ends of the earth and preached the gospel.