“EXPERIENCE THE GREAT COMMISION”
www.planttheseedministries.org
Allan H. Kircher
May 5, 2008
Matt 28:18-20 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.
We are all called to be fishers of men.
The love that Christ poured out for his people in his death and resurrection (2 Cor. 5:14-21) is the motive for proclaiming the gospel.
He who is the author of life (Acts 3:15) and the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8) and the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth commands his people to go and make disciples of all nations.
Isn’t it amazing that Jesus’ last words to his disciples were about evangelism.
Jesus instructs them, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.
He was commanding His disciples to make disciples.
The basis of discipleship is teaching all the commands of Jesus.
His commands are beacons of light that will guide us throughout the course of our lives.
On the other hand, every conflict we have in life can be traced to the neglect or violation of one or more of the commands of Jesus.
This is why He placed such a high priority on them, even to say, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3).
Christ is the great example of carrying out the commission. He went around doing good (Acts 10:38), proclaiming his message of redemption (Mark 10:45), and seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10).
Just as he taught and preached the good news of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23), so his disciples (all of us) should teach and proclaim Jesus and his resurrection (Acts 4:2).
You are Jesus’ disciples. We are the offspring of those select few. Those whom you disciple will be the offspring also.
This is the final point Jesus made to his disciples.
It appeared that he regarded evangelism as the very reason for their being. The very reason for our being.
The call to evangelize is a command.
Having accepted Jesus as Lord, you have brought yourself under his rule and are obligated to do whatever he asked.
For he had said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:16)
“If you are my friends you will do what I command” John 15:14.
If you truly love the Lord, you will carry out his call to evangelize.
It is not an option in your life. It is not an option.
Well, you’re saying, I’m not a preacher or pastor.
Evangelism in your walk is the way you carry yourself. And when you carry yourself in a Godly way people will begin to see Jesus in you.
Then, you plant the seed of salvation in conversation. You tell them that you are like this because of what Jesus has done for you. You are now evangelizing and obeying the command of your heavenly father.
Jesus uses your experiences in life to reach those that come across your path.
The disciples and you are not sent out on our own strength, however..
Jesus prefaced his commission with the statement “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18)
Having all authority, he commissioned each of us as his agent.
You are a commissioned agent of Jesus Christ.
You are hereby promoted from your current job.
If you are a truck driver, I hereby promote you to a commissioned agent for Jesus.
Your job is 24 hs. A day 7 days a week.
You have the most profound, exciting, rewarding and posh job anyone could want. And great benefits.
You have every problem solved for you.
You have every relationship restored
You have every addiction or hurt healed
Note the extent of the great commission; it is all inclusive in Matt 28:19 Jesus speaks of “all nations” and in Acts 1:8 he gives specific enumeration.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
This is two fold- you will receive power when the holy spirit comes on you.
You cannot witness and evangelize if the power of the spirit is not in you.
For example, if you don’t have the spirit in you, you will not desire to witness or evangelize to others.
Secondly, if you try and witness and do not have the spirit you deserve a grammy award for “best actor in evangelizing pictures”.
You will receive power. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling and power are essential for the commission to be effective, for it is the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, who is the author of regeneration and who enables people to confess Jesus as Lord.
You see we need to carry out the commands of Christ in all areas.
Our family, our church and other Christians, our community and beyond, but before we can disciple and evangelize in these areas we must carry out the commands of Christ in our life.
The first place the disciples were called to evangelism is Jerusalem, this was the most difficult place for the disciples to carry out the great commission.
For it was the location of the scandal in connection with the events of Christ’s last days, and especially his humiliating death by crucifixion.
There would be a natural distrust of and perhaps even revulsion for any presentation of the message of the Savior.
In our society today, this seems to hit home first.
We see how difficult it is to carry out the commission in our own homes. The people who are closest to us are sometimes the hardest to reach and evangelize to.
They have seen our fallacies and our past. And remember, those that are not of the spirit cannot accept the things that come from the spirit of God.
This makes it extremely difficult to carry a conversation with those lost in your family.
This is where we truly have to act like Christ in all our actions. We are not in the confines of the church walls or around people at church when where at home.
I have always thought that we should interview the prospective deacon’s wives, children, parents, etc., instead of taking a vote at church for their nomination.
How about if we go into their workplace and unanimously interview their co-workers and ask them, “Mr. Smith has been nominated for a deacon at Shell Point Baptist church. What do you think about that”?
What are they going to say?
This is where you find the true character of their being.
Our true feelings come out when we are not in church. We always have more of a comfort zone with those who we spend the most time with.
Col 3:16 says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”
You see, if you’re a converted Christian after a long life of earthly pleasures, those family members around you will need to see an extrinsic behavior from Christ living in you.
They will need to see this change over a long period of time.
If you’re a 30 year old man that has just received the Lord as your Savior and come home, open the bible and start preaching to your lost family members, they will probably look at you like you are crazy.
But when they see you in action by your actions, from the power of the Holy Spirit, you have power through your works.
We can evangelize to family members simply by being a living example.
And that extrinsic behavior will have to be seen over time. When this occurs on a consistent basis you are evangelizing without even opening your mouth.
You must apply the commands of Christ through your behavior.
In your new life you can show those around you your true saving faith by instituting prayer, bible study’s and yes, limited tv time and other habits that have kept you from God.
But in any grave circumstance you must carry out the great commission in your home.
There are members of your family who will be going to hell because you neglected to follow God’s command in your life.
A simple plan that just says “Jesus loves you”. We all need to hear that someone loves us.
The second calling to the disciples was to witness in “All Judea.” This area was south of Jerusalem and was mainly inhabited by Jews, Judea Jews at that.
This proved to be a more positive environment for the disciples to witness and carry out the Great Commission. They were God’s chosen people and they were like minded.
Consequently, fulfillment of this part of the commission would result in the establishment of additional congregations.
I view this as us today witnessing and evangelizing to our church members. We are like minded as were the people of Judea.
Within the walls of this church each of us have an obligation to carry that commission.
Carry it through discipleship, mentoring, training, encouragement, praise, love, patience, listening, coaching, spurring, and peace for the love of Jesus and his commands to us.
Establishing small groups in fellowship, praying in unison, developing true saving Christian faith in the testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Evangelizing to our own members means to disciple and train and teach in the word of the Lord.
Having commonalities with each other brings in love for each other.
They had earnest love for each other in the land of Judea. I can speak for myself when I truly say I love each and every one of you.
If you talk to me on the phone or in person I more than likely will tell you I love you.
If the spirit of God was not in me, I would not have this love. I look around and I see carpenters and housewives, young and mature individuals, tall and short etc., there is no difference between us. There is not difference between us.
We are all children of God, and we are all worthy of nothing but serving our Lord.
When Granny was in the ER, I felt compassion in my heart as if she were my grandmother.
When Alice heard the news of her mother…….I felt as though it was my mother.
I think of my families and I feel what they feel…….
Because we are truly brothers and sisters of Christ, and have an earnest love in our hearts for each other.
My love is sincere because the spirit is in me and it leads me to encourage you.
Evangelizing to each other means asking ‘what can I pray for you today?” Not tonight or tomorrow, but now. Get P’ U’ now.
Perhaps the most distasteful part of the commission for the disciples was the third part—“in Samaria.”
This took them to the people whom they found most difficult to love, and who would probably be least receptive to their message because of being brought by Jews.
The Jews and Samaritans had been engaged in conflict for a long time.
The friction dated back to the time of the Jews’ return from the Babylonian captivity.
You see the Samaritans were the product of intermarriage of the Israelites left behind by the Assyrians and various foreign colonists whom the Assyrians then sent in to help repopulate the area.
When the Jews returned from Babylon and began to rebuild the temple, the Samaritans offered to help, but their offer was spurned. From that time on, there was friction between the two groups.
So you see the challenge to the disciples to go carry out the commission to the land of Samaria.
We are to love our neighbor period. Who is our neighbor? Anybody that is outside the length of your arm.
Isn’t it amazing the Jesus wrote the parable to the Good Samaritan, the very people that Jews viewed as half-breeds, both physically and spiritually?
But Jesus asserted that love knows no national boundaries.
Luke 10:29-36
An expert of the law stood up and asked Jesus, “and who is my neighbor?” in reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side, But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
Jesus said go and do likewise.
The Samaritans are people we have contact with everyday. The lost. Our boss, our friend at work, the drive through teller. The relationship with a loved one that is strained.
We just don’t stop serving the Lord and become instantly satisfied with our own walk. Our mission is to evangelize in Beaufort and beyond. At work, in Wal-mart, in the post office, at the bank, on the golf course etc….
We need to get as much exposure from each moment of the day.
How do you spur a conversation with the lost of “Samaria”? We help and encourage the beggar on the road. God may have placed that person in your path to witness to them.
You may have your job just to evangelize to one particular lonely desperate person.
Surely the people that you come across are the least likely for you to have fellowship with but Jesus said, “you will be my witnesses in Samaria..i.e., Beaufort, your work, your life outside the church. You will be my witnesses…………………….
Finally the disciples were to bear witness “to the end of the earth.”
No geographical restriction upon the commission. We are to take the message everywhere, to all nations and to every type of people.
Going on vacation anytime soon? Going to Walterboro tomorrow?
Going to a Charleston Riverdogs game?
You cannot of course accomplish this on your own.
Pray for divine appointments. As you have your morning devotion and prayer time ask God to send you someone to witness too.
And as you win converts, those converts would in turn evangelize yet others.
And the message would spread in ever-widening circles, and the task will eventually be completed.
Your converts will go on vacation, go to Walterboro, go to a Riverdogs game.
Therefore, if the church is to be faithful to its Lord and bring joy to His heart, it must be engaged in bringing the gospel to all people.
This includes people whom we may by nature tend to dislike.
It extends to those who are unlike us. And it goes beyond our immediate sphere of contact and influence.
In a very real sense, local evangelism, church extension or church planting, and world missions are all the same thing.
The only difference lies in the length of the radius.
When we accomplish the mission of evangelism, disciplining, and teaching of the word of the Lord we will have the rewards from our Father in Heaven.
1. God will reveal Himself to us.
Have you ever had a vision of what God wants to do in your life?
Has He revealed Himself to you lately?
God will reveal Himself to us. “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love him and show myself to him”. (John 14:21).
Have you carried out his commands to reap the reward of God revealing Himself to you?
Will you carry out his commands, so He can reveal Himself to you?
2. We will abide in God’s love.
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Fathers commands and remain in His love” (John 15:10)
When we carry out His commands we reveal the character that is in us.
The character of God.
We will love all people, all circumstances, all situations the way God love’s us.
Have you carried out His commands to reap the reward of you obtaining God’s love?
Will you carry out His commands, so you can obtain God’s love?
3. Our prayers will be answered
God can and will answer your prayers if your faithful to his service.
“and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his command and do what pleases Him”
(1 John 3:22).
When we are faithful to God and have the faith of a mustard seed, He will be faithful to you.
Have you carried out His commands to reap the reward of your prayers answered?
Will you carry out His commands, so you can have your prayers answered?
4. We have assurance of our love for God.
“we know tht we have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 John 2:3 see also John 14:15.)
You see, when Christ is in us, we are doing His will, and have full assurance of faith in the promises of God without question.
Have you carried out His commands to reap the reward our assurance of our love for God?.
Will you carry out His commands to reap the reward of our love for God.
5. Our love for the Body of Christ is revealed.
“this is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands” (1 John 5:2).
Our love for the body of Christ is revealed in all that we do.
Our attitudes, our actions, our speech, our demeanor all reveal the Glory of the Lord.
Have you carried out His commands to reap the reward of the Body of Christ be revealed in your life?
Will you carry out His commands to reap the reward of Christ Himself?
As God reveals Himself to us through our keeping of Christ’s commands, we will have a greater capacity for worshiping Him for Who He really is.
The more we understand His character, the better we are able to give Him the praise and glory due His name.
The church must work in all of these areas. If it does not, it will become spiritually ill, for it will be attempting to function in a way its Lord never intended.
