Messiah's Mandate Series

Messiah's Mandate

Text: Matt. 28:16-20

Introduction

1. Illustration: It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A Pentecostal church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms, just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction.

2. If we are going to be the kind of church that God has called us to be than we have acquire a burning passion to fulfill the Messiah's Mandate.

3. There are three aspects to the Messiah's Mandate...

a. Worship

b. Obedience

c. Instruction

4. Let's all stand as we read together Matt. 28:16-20.

Proposition: Making disciples is not something that we do, but rather it is a lifestyle that we live.

Transition: The first aspect of the Messiah's Mandate is...

I. Worship (16-17).

A. They Worshiped Him

1. Now some of you may be thinking, "Wait a minuet Pastor, isn't this the Great Commission? Are we going to talk about witnessing or singing?"

a. I want to contend with you that fulfilling the Messiah's Mandate is an act of worship.

b. Furthermore, I want to contend with you, as I have in the past, that worship is more than singing a song.

c. As we begin to look at our text today you will see that the Great Commission begins with worship.

2. Matthew begins this final section of his Gospel by telling us, "Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go."

a. The 11 disciples (because Judas was gone) went to Galilee to meet Jesus just as the women had instructed them.

b. Jesus wanted to give His disciples their commission in Galilee, which shows that the teaching of the risen Jesus did not replace the teaching of the Jesus of Galilee put was a continuation of it (Horton, 655).

c. It seems appropriate that the Lord told them to meet Him on a mountain.

d. God had often revealed himself on mountains in biblical tradition, especially in the narratives about Moses (Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).

3. Now let's look at what happened once they got there. Matthew says, "When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!"

a. For the first time in Matthew's narrative, the disciples encounter the risen Jesus, and appropriately their response is to "worship" him.

b. All along Jesus has been leading them to understand his true identity as the Son of God, a fact in his earthly ministry that was difficult for them to comprehend.

c. But now that he has been raised, which is the declaration that he is indeed God's Son, and they have received at least two to three appearances from the risen Jesus prior to this in Jerusalem, they are prepared to give him the worship that is due him (Wilkins).

d. When the disciples saw Jesus they worshiped Him. It was much more than homage. As the opposite of doubt it included belief.

e. However, you will notice that it says some of them doubted.

f. What did they doubt? It seems obvious that their doubt was whether this was actually Jesus.

g. Belief in Jesus rising from the dead was not something that they all had grasped, even though Jesus had told them He would on the third day.

h. This shows how absolutely mind blowing this whole event had been, but it was a God thing.

i. Notice that both the believers and the doubters received the commission and promise (Horton, 655).

B. What Is Worship?

1. Illustration: True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don’t have to shop around for man-made substitutes. William Temple made this clear in his masterful definition of worship: "For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose—and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin" (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, 119).

2. Worship means giving ourselves over to the Lordship of Jesus.

a. 1 Chronicles 16:29 (NLT)

Give to the LORD the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor.

b. Worship means giving God the glory He deserves.

c. Does worship mean singing His praises? Yes it does!

d. Does worship mean giving Him control over our finances? Yes it does!

e. Does worship mean giving Him control over our desires? Yes it does!