Church and its Commission
Matthew 28:16-20
Introduction:
This evening the title of the sermon is, “Commission of the Church”. When you look at the title it conveys the idea that the church should be a force in the community that it is placed in; because you see the community does not run the church, but Jesus who is its founder and the one who empowers it - runs the church.
And the church operating under the blood, sweat and tears of Jesus Christ cannot be stopped. It is an unstoppable Church! Because it’s taken its Commission seriously!
Now the context here is that Jesus calls his disciples out from the threats and distractions of Jerusalem to the country side of Galilee. There in this quiet and beautiful retreat Centre Jesus reveals Himself and Commissions them to the rest of their life to complete what he began - which was to ‘make disciples’.
If I knew my time to go to Heaven was near,
- what challenge would I leave with those whom I love?
- what encouragement would I stimulate them to accept?
In the same way Jesus had such an opportunity to share with His disciples before he ascended into heaven these words that was read to us from Mt. 28. And these words are for all his disciples down the generations.
But the question is have we taken seriously His last words which he left for us?
In v18 we read that Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
All authority: “All authority” in heaven and on earth- not only in the past but the future; not only in eternity but the nasty right now” (Tony Evans). Jesus is in charge even today!And therefore His great Commission to the Church is logically valid.
But what exactly is the Commission of the Church?
In v 19f we read that Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit.”
I’m telling you that if Jesus is not raised from the dead, this commission in verse 19 is meaningless.
The word Commission by definition means to be “authorized to perform certain duties or take certain powers.”
Commission is about the concept of giving marching orders. And this is found throughout God word.
And there are 4 elements in the Commission Jesus gives us here (as for the church):
a. Go
b. Make disciples
c. Baptize
d. Teach them to obey
a. Go: In the Greek text, the participle ‘Go’ carries the power of command. To ‘Go’ means that we are not supposed to wait for people to come to us, but we are to go to them. Jesus wants his disciples on the offensive and not always on the defensive.
And this going is all about ‘making disciples’. And the Book of Acts shows that the disciples did go to the ends of the earth and preach the gospel. In any language, Go means “don’t stay.”
We are to make disciples wherever God has placed us and it is not just the responsibility of the leaders but everyone of us. We are the go between of the ‘living God’ and a ‘dying people’. Our commission is literally to preach the gospel to those we come in contact with.
If you come in contact with people who are physically-abled like the blind
then we still go and preach to them by giving them the Gospel which is written for them in Braille language.
If we come across people who are deaf we preach the gospel to them through sign language.
In any case we are commissioned to go. If we are not allowed to go and preach the gospel offline, then we go online.
This Going is not only about targeting Gentiles but all nations under conditions that mission out to be carried out. That’s the first element of the Commission of the Church. ‘To Go’!
The Second element of the Commission is to make disciples.
b. Make disciples is the key verb in this imperative commission. Who is a disciple? Jesus Christ defines who a disciple is in Luke 9:23-24 = "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
What does this verse mean? For e.g.: It means that a disciple is the one who denies his vengeance and forgives his offender. And his cross is learning to forgive which is not natural. (Forgiveness again is not the absence of justice, but it’s about not carrying hatred).
Again a disciple is the one who denies his selfish desires and learns to be Content. And his cross is learning to be content which is not natural. (I’m not saying that we must not strive higher… but the point of being content.)
So are we making disciples of this nature in our church?
- who have learnt to forgive their enemies… and
- who have learnt to conquer their selfishness
c. The third element of Jesus commission is to baptize. Baptize literally means to immerse. Baptism symbolizes cleansing - from sin and its power. Baptism points to our death to ‘flesh dominated appetites’ and our resurrection to a ‘Spirit controlled life’.
The practice of baptism which is done in public witness is important because it holds the baptized person responsible from here-on to guard his/her Christian testimony in midst of witnesses in society.
And Jesus’ command to baptize people is a statement of loyalty that we are devoted to; and because we follow Jesus’ example we baptize people. (Mt. 3: 11-17).
But in given changing circumstances of today’s context, baptism is carried out by the priest of the Church. But as a church we are equally responsible to bring people to be baptized as we make them disciples of Jesus.
So Baptizing people in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit is more than getting them wet (equal therefore ‘name’ instead of ‘names’).
Baptism is an outward sign of what God was doing inside. It is immersing them in the things of God. Therefore there will be a change.
d. The final portion of the command is found in v20, and that is teaching the disciples to observe all that Jesus commanded.
Disciples are not developed by merely baptizing them. They need to be taught all that Christ has commanded and also make them observe it, which means make them obey what is taught to them.
In the Church we don’t merely inform the minds of the people, but we persuade them to obey the words of Jesus.
When we become disciples who are baptized, our life is meant to be different and we also want to see a difference in other people’s lives.
There are a whole lot of believers on their way to heaven because they have accepted the Grace and Mercy of God but have cheated themselves out of the power and influence they could have by being discipled through the process of obeying God’s Word.
You cannot have the power of the disciple without knowing God’s Word.
And the power of the disciple is to teach God’s Word and persuade others to obey it.
Conclusion:
How serious is RTMC about the Great Commission? Oswald J. Smith once said, "Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist."
That’s a hard statement. But that’s true. The great Commission of God is not an option, it is a commandment.
John Wesley said, “The church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples.”
There are a lot of churches in India. But there is still trouble and people get hurt in the church. A Church is a place that claims healing, a place where God is supposed to be dwelling!
It’s not enough to be saved and become member in the church, the Church has to be a place where people get discipled and reproduce themselves in the image of Christ. And this is necessary to fulfill the Commission of the Church.
A man was with his new bride and they were traveling too fast down a dark road and he turned his car over. His wife was badly hurt and he saw that if she did not get immediate help she would die. So he looks up and he see’s a sign that reads the office of Dr. Bill Jones. So he carries his wife up the hill to his house and knocks on the door. An old man answers the door and this young man says “save my wife”. The old man says, “I no longer practices medicine, I am retired.”
The young man says, “sir you have two choices. You can either save my wife or you can take down your sign.”
You cannot have a sign that says that in this place is a Savior and not be a place that will help the hurting and the troubled. Jesus says, “You either help or take down your sign.” And the way the church helps is by:
- Going and making disciples
- Baptizing them and
- Teaching them to obey the commands of Jesus
Because by fulfilling this Commission the world finds help to conquer their sinfulness and be comforted in their pain. RTMC either can be a place that God is discipling people, or we need to take down the sign because we
cannot operate as a social club, where the power of God is used in the past tense.
The Commission of the church is a great command but it has a great promise too; and the promise is that Jesus said, “I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age.”
He is in charge of the universe and He empowers his church with the Holy Spirit to fulfill this Commission.
