Go Make Disciples
Matthew 28:16-20
A few years ago we went to the goodwill outlet store in Indianapolis. Where they literally dump everything in these big piles and you dig through it like a big yard sale. I always tell the kids if you see something that you think we can resell on Ebay let me know. Trevor came up carrying this pair of shoes
and they looked unique, said they were handmade in Spain so we bought them for a quarter and put them on Ebay. They ended up selling for over $200.00. I was so excited about our discover that I think I told everyone I knew how I turned a .25 cent investment into $200.00 in a day.
The reason I shared that store with you today is because if my reaction over getting a good deal on a pair of shoes led me tell everyone I knew about it then how much more should we tell others about the Good News of Jesus Christ. That's what evangelizing and missions is all about. Telling others what Christ has done for us.
-In this passage that we just read this morning we see some of the last words of Jesus to his disciples after the resurrection. This is often referred to as the great commission. The same commission is also found in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
John Wesley was one man in history who took this commission very seriously, he is quoted as saying
I want the whole Christ for my Saviour, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field.
The mission of the New Testament Church is not to build buildings, not to stock pile cash, not to pad our pews so that we can sit in comfort. Not that there is anything wrong with these things, but they are not the mission.
The mission of the church is to take the good news of Jesus to the whole world and make disciples of all nations.
This morning I want us to see the purpose, the plan and our part in the great commission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
The purpose
The purpose is to go and make disciples. The Good news of Jesus Christ is the only message in the world that has the power to set men and women free from the bondage of Sin. It is the only message that is able to give hope to hopeless.
But notice that he says we are to make disciples. This requires more than just holding one meeting and getting someone to come forward and make a decision for Christ. This is one of the areas where the church has not been as obedient as we should have.
We have made converts but not disciples, which leaves people who are ungrounded in the world and vulnerable to every wind of doctrine that comes blowing by.
A disciple is someone who is committed to Christ and growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.
That is why we see the perfect example in front of us today. Someone who knows the culture of the people he is going to because he is from that nation Someone who has taken the time to learn the word and be grounded in the word himself and is going to live among those people that he leads to Christ.,
disciples are not made in the classroom, they are made in the field.
Jesus trained his disciples by living out the truth in front of them.
The Apostle Paul trained Timothy and instructed Timothy to follow his example and then he told Timothy to set an example for those under his preaching to follow
1Ti 4:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
That's the way disciples are made. If you want the people you teach to study- you study. If you want the people you teach to pray- you pray- if you want them to give- you give.
The Plan
The method that God has ordained that his message be proclaimed in public assemblies such as this one we are having today
Rom 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Rom 10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
The plan includes us. God left this holy message with its power to change lives in the hands of his disciples and today that message is in our hands. He told them to Go and make disciples
The objective, the plan is to take this message to the whole world. “All nations” God is not just interested in reaching the United States with the Gospel but the whole world. And the plan carries with it responsibility because not only are we to baptize them but we are to teach them in verse 20. Teaching requires time which is why the most effective way in reaching people for Christ is going to be by someone who lives within that culture, who knows the language and the customs of the people\ rather than someone who is just passing through for a weekend visit.
The size of Gods plan is huge. It includes the whole world. God wants everyone to hear about Jesus. We don't stop going with the gospel when there are people who still have not heard about the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The message is too important for us to stop and get complacent.
In this passage we also find that God allows us to have a part in this plan. Which brings me to my last point this morning.
The Partnership
in verse 20, Jesus says, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always to the end of the age.
Go has given us a part in this great commission but he has not left us alone. He says “I am with you always to the end of the age.
It is an honor to be part of this great commission. This great task of taking the good news of the gospel to the world.
We all have a part but we have not all been called to be pastors or missionaries or teachers. To the church at Ephesus Paul writes,
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
There are distinct difference in the callings, some are pastors some are teacher, some are evangelist.
We have not all been called to work full time in mission field or even in the local church, but we all have been called to have a part in the work
1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
1Ti 5:18 For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages."
Listen to what Paul writes in the book of Philippines
Phl 4:15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.
Phl 4:16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.
Phl 4:17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
I want us to see this morning the purpose of the mission
When we support the work of missions, every soul they reach for Christ Paul says that fruit increases to your credit. Even though we may never walk on foreign soil we can have a part in the reward that is in heaven for those souls that are reached by sending those who will go.
This morning the reason I am asking that you help to send Luke and Marlyn to the mission field is because it is Biblical. The authority to ask you give to this cause comes from Gods Word.
It is my prayer today that we give a generous offering to help them go into the mission field and that some of you also consider taking them on and supporting their work on a monthly basis
As we prepare to have a song of invitation I want the church to honestly consider the work of the missions today
I also want those of you here today that have never committed your lives to Christ to strongly consider that today. This might be the last chance you have.
