July 17, 2011
Morning Worship
Text: Matthew 28:16-20
Subject: The Great Commission
Title: The Discipleship Directive – Part 2 in the Great Commission Series
Today we continue with the Great Commission series. Last week I told you that the four versions of the Great Commission found in the gospels were written to different groups and had a different emphasis. That doesn’t mean that any of them have less value for us today. Today we are looking at Matthew 28:16-20. Matthew places his emphasis on discipleship, teaching and following the commands of Jesus.
Let me start out today with this interesting bit of humor that I found.
To: Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter’s Carpenter Shop
Nazareth 25922
From: Jordan Management Consultants
Dear Sir:
Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.
The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully.
As part of our service, we make some general comments for your guidance, much as an auditor will include some general statements. This is given as a result of staff consultation, and comes without any additional fee.
It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew had been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.
Sincerely,
Jordan Management Consultants
Tim Hansel, Eating Problems for Breakfast, Word Publishing, 1988, pp. 194-195.
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “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.”
Lord, open my spiritual eyes to see and my spiritual ears to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying to the church.
I. THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. One should never think that Jesus didn’t know who He was and where He came from. John 5:19-20, 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. In Matthew 6:9-10 Jesus establishes the connection between what He has been doing on the earth with what the Father has been doing in heaven. “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus has authority in heaven and on the earth to do God’s will. Everything that Jesus did was God’s will. What did Jesus have authority to do? He was given the authority to sit down at the right hand of the Father… He was given the authority to intercede for believers… He was given authority to cast out demons, heal the sick, make the lame walk, set the captives free, and to preach the good news. And finally, He had the authority to pass that authority on to others. Luke 10:19, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. This authority wasn’t just given to the twelve apostles but was given to “disciples”. That is you and me. Now the question is, “Are you a disciple?” a recent sermon I read recently asked the question, “Are you a fan of Jesus, or a follower?” The point of the sermon is that there are many who are fans of Jesus. They like what He says. They like what He did. They like who He was. They go to church. They sing songs and contribute to the offering. You all know that I am a fan of football – a St. Louis Rams fan in particular. I will be glad when the lockout is ended. I watch football. I talk about football. I get excited about football. But I could never do what the St. Louis Rams do. I’m not big enough or tough enough or talented enough. I couldn’t be a football player so I have to be content to be a fan. However, with Jesus it is totally different. He hasn’t called you to be a fan. He has called you and given you the authority to be a follower and not a fan. That is what a disciple is. Look at what Isaiah says about fans. Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
II. THE DIRECTIVES OF JESUS 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. 1) Go… This is the call to worldwide evangelism. …and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth… Going begins at home and is not stopped until the whole world has heard the gospel. 2) Make disciples… Now hear is the area where it seems that the church has missed it a bit. For years the church has read this and took it to mean that making disciples is the same as sharing the gospel. Not the same thing… Another errant thought about this is that the church is called to take new believers through a time of teaching to help them become more knowledgeable about their faith. That is getting a little closer but is still missing an important element in discipleship. In order for us to know what it means to make disciples the way the Jesus said, we have to look at discipleship the way Jesus did it. Turn over to Mark 3:13-18. As you are turn there I want to take you to Judges chapter 6. Here is the story of Gideon. The number one thing that we need to take away from the story of Gideon is, even though he saw himself as insignificant – 6:15 says he saw himself as the weakest member of the weakest family from the weakest tribe of Israel - God saw him differently. Verse 12, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” OK, go back to Mark 3 starting in verse 13, “13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.” Looking quickly at this we see that He appointed twelve that He could send out to preach and have authority to drive out demons. But there is one specific aspect of discipleship that you miss if that is all you get from that - that they might be with him… Making disciples means being in a relationship with people and developing that relationship. Now many of you are sitting there thinking, “I’m just not a social person. I can’t do that.” But God sees you differently. Romans 4:17, in speaking of Abraham it says, 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. - “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” 3) OK, we have seen “Go” and “Make disciples” what do you think is next? …baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… Automatically we turn our thoughts to water baptism. How would you respond to me if I told you that water baptism is not what is necessarily meant here? Don’t take this the wrong way. Water baptism is of the utmost importance only in that it is the tangible expression of what is taking place in you spiritually. The word translated “baptizing” means “to immerse” or “submerge”. In respect to water baptism that is why we baptize by full immersion. But being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit reflects a total indoctrination into the very nature of God the Father – immersed in total trust in Him, His word, and every promise that He has made to us. Immersed in Jesus is the acceptance of the work of the cross for salvation and His resurrection for eternal life – being restored to a right relationship with the Father through Him. Immersion in the Holy Spirit is the full submission to the Holy Spirit through the baptism in the Spirit for power to be what Jesus has called you to be. 4) teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you… Two things – teaching and obedience. What are we to teach disciples? To obey! 1 Samuel 15:22, But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. The word translated “obey” means “to guard from loss or injury.” So the call is to develop relationships with others to bring them to faith, to immerse them in the word of God and a life in Christ through the power of the Spirit, and teaching them to guard from loss everything that Jesus has taught. Let’s take it a step further. When Jesus said, “teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” – then what we should be doing is making disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples. Your goal should be to have spiritual children, grandchildren and great – grandchildren from now until the time the LORD calls you home.
I want to close with this. I have been praying with fervor about what must happen in the church in order for it to become what Jesus wants us to be and the answer that I continue to receive is revealed in the passage today. The answer is in the building of relationships with people outside the church, leading them to the Lord, and then because of the relationships you have with them, to make disciples.
We can have all the right programs in place in church. We can have the best music. We can have the best preachers, but if we exclude relationships/discipleship we are missing out on God’s plan for the church.
At our board meeting last week I shared with your deacons my heart for young families and asked what it would take to get them in and get them to stay. One of the suggestions we had was to have a church meeting to ask you the congregation to make suggestions for what you think would work in building the church. But after preparing this sermon and getting to what I think is the real heart of God in this, I think the real answer lies in not what the church can do, but what you as an individual are willing to do.
Royal Rangers is about building relationships boys to leaders and boys to boys.
Youth group is about building disciples through relationships.
Small groups – the same.
The scariest thing in the world for many people is the thought of building a relationship with someone you don’t know. But Jesus said you don’t have to do it alone. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
You must not be afraid.
God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power and love and sound mind…
Joshua 1:1-9, 1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Go – take the land – make disciples
