TOPIC: THE UNCHANGING CALL TO A CHANGING TIME
Text: Matthew 28:18-20
“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."
Introduction:
(ILL. Jesus will return in 2414 – Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and the end will come.”)
I remember one time I attended an ABCCOP mission conference and one of the speakers was Ptr. Ver Garrido and during that time they are missionary to Indonesia. When they challenged the delegates for missions, one Pastor there said, “Why do we need to go out to other country to other people, while we have a lot of people to reach out here!” I was sad by that comment because many churches of ABCCOP if we are going to trace who started, pioneered most of ABCCOP Churches was missionaries (TROAS – Team International, RBMU, OMF, ABCCOP, SEND, etc.) And yet they forgot THE VERY REASON ABCCOP was started. If we are going to ask Bishop Mauro Brion he will tell you that ABCCOP was started for that purpose. And yet we set aside missions, we set aside reaching for the unreached. Not just in ABCCOP but this is also true with many churches now they forgot the Great Commission. Churches started to become content of what they have now, they become content of what they are now. They forgot the very CALL of the church in the first place. The Israelites people lost this too. That is why Paul reminded them in Acts 13:26, “26 "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.” In Genesis 12:1-4, “ 1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him…” it was very clear when God commanded Abraham to leave. He will be starting a new chapter of his life. His Father probably was one commanded by God to go to the Promised Land but then after they reached Haran they stay there and become content that he forgot why God called him there. And now its Abraham’s turn, God called him with the same command. And so Abraham will be embarking to a new journey not only with his life but for his descendants as well and we are part of that if we are going to trace our roots in order to fulfill God’s vision. Paul clearly declared that in Galatians 3:7-9, “7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Our calls come from the same call that God made to Abraham. We are blessed to be a blessing not only to those who are around us BUT to ALL THE NATIONS as well. That is the vision that God gave to all of us and Jesus gave that to us before he went back to heaven. This is what we called the GREAT COMMISSION. There is a part in the New Testament that Jesus got angry in the temple we can see that in Matthew 21:12-13, “12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written”, He said to them, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Jesus quote it from Isaiah 56:7 and there it was specifically said there “a house of prayer for all nations). Why Jesus did this? (2 PPT) Jesus reminded them the very call that God gave to Israel to be a blessing to all the nations but they forgot it instead they become a hindrance for other nations who come and want to worship God. Are we become a hindrance to fulfill the mandate or call by God?
The call since the beginning of time doesn’t change even time change. And this is the theme for this year’s ABCCOP Celebration: THE UNCHANGING CALL TO A CHANGING TIME. This is also connected to our long term theme which is “PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL HERE AND BEYOND” So our theme for this year’s celebration is actually in the context of mission or cross cultural. And this is the same call that God is calling us today. (2 PPT) Let’s open our Bible in Matthew 28:18-20 (read). From our text I would like us to see some reminder for us to fulfill the UNCHANGING CALL even in an UNCHANGING TIME. There are at least Three Things that we need to REMEMBER & REMIND OURSELVES in order for us to fulfill the call even time change. We should Remember & Remind ourselves of…
1. God’s Governing (adj.: leading, main, central) POWER (v. 18)
Remember that after the fall the power to rule or to govern slipped in the hands of man who was originally entrusted by God to rule and was taken by Satan and his cohorts. That is why when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, he showed Him all the riches of this world and promised to give Him if He will only bow down and worship Satan. Think it for a moment “Can he do that?” Yes he can because he is the one who rule this world after the fall that is why he was called “prince of this world” or “ruler of this world”. Jesus declared, in John 14:30 he said, “30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me…” Jesus defeated Satan and made us victorious - Romans 8:37, “37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” That power was taken back by Jesus when He died on the cross and resurrected after three days. That is why before He went back to heaven he declared that power is available to all of us - Acts 1:8, “8 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." That is why in our text He said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” And then in verse 19 He said, “Therefore…” Meaning this Governing Power was taken back by Jesus and now He made it available to us in fulfilling His call for us to do. (2 PPT) Do you experience that Governing Power in your life?
2. God’s Guaranteed (adj.: certain, definite, sure) PROCESS (method, procedure, progression) (vv. 19-20)
Not only the power that He made available to us but even He gave us a Guaranteed PROCESS a sure game plan on how to carry on the call or mandate He entrusted to us, it is the action plan of the call. (ILL. Ying Kai story of T4T – When he is praying what to do in millions of people in China, the Lord brought him back to Matthew 28:18-20 and realized that what he need to do in order to fulfill God’s call is already there. First He realized that he need to GO not stay or come to share the Gospel to others. Second he realized that the command is for ALL NATIONS not just some and that they needed to be BAPTIZE to become part of the church, then lastly he realize that the command actually is to MAKE DISCIPLES not just converts & members to TEACH THEM). Which is the main command here or main verb or main action word here? Because we have here at least four verbs: GO, BAPTIZE, TEACH & DISCIPLE. But actually the main verb or command here is MAKE DISCIPLE. The rest is just the Process on how to carry on this command. So in order to make disciple: First you need to GO, and You Baptize them, then you Teach them and that is the whole PROCESS on making Disciple. That is why in BCBC our process is B.C.B.C – Born, Care, Build & Commission. Same thing, same process it doesn’t change. If you are going to study the G-12 process (Win, Consolidate, Disciple & Send), Rick Warrens (Baseball field model) process they are the same different words but the same principles. Because the CALL is unchanging even on how to carry out that call, we just need to be intentional in doing it. (ILL. 3PPT.) (1 PPT) If we will just become intentional in making disciples we don’t need to copy some methods because actually God already gave us a PATTERN & PROCESS how to do it even in the area of baptism. (If you study baptism in the Bible it is immediate once a person declared His faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross like the Eunuch in Acts 8. Because its purpose is not to become member of the church but to declare his/her new found faith in Jesus publicly. The problem is we always want shortcuts, quick fix, and instant or we want to do things our own way. We just make Converts but not Disciples. Members but not Ministers. Sons but not Servants, Alagain at hindi Alagad. In order to fulfill the same CALL we should be reminded & follow God’s sure & Guaranteed Process. (1 PPT)
3. God’s Gracious (adj.: generous, bighearted, liberal) PROMISES (v. 20)
When we experience God’s governing power, we will empower to do God’s Guaranteed Process in fulfilling God’s call and as we do this God assured us with His Generous Promises. Let’s just pause for a moment and reflect this truth. Jesus promised His Presence and connected it in relation to the Great Commission. But not only that, when His PRESENCE is there then even His Protection is there for us, as well as His Provisions. He Graciously promise all of this to us (1 PPT). Paul in Philippians 4:19, “19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Many times we quote this for God’s GRACIOUS SUPPLY when we trust Him but actually the context of this verse if you are going to read it is about supporting and generously giving on missions. When we fulfill God’s mandate by supporting it then God will continue to graciously supply ALL our needs. (ILL. BCBC experience when we change the allotment of the percentage of the church income.) (ILL. Painting: The Son – When you have The Son you have everything.) That is what Philippians 4:19 promised (1 PPT). David realized this Generous Promises of the Lord and we can see that in Psalm 23. We can see here at least Four Promises of the Great Shepherd: The Partnership of the Great Shepherd, The Provisions of the Great Shepherd, The Protection of the Great Shepherds and The Presence of the Great Shepherd. And this is the very reason why Jesus come to us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” This is Jesus gracious promise to us, a true abundance & true meaningful life (not as the world view it). And Jesus already done that on the cross 2000 years ago but many times we still live as if we don’t have it. Are we experiencing God’s Generous Promises in our life as we fulfill the Great Commission, the UNCHANGING CALL even in a CHANGING time. (1 PPT)
Conclusion:
ABCCOP was a mission oriented organization & was started by missionaries who respond to UNCHANGING CALL and yet we lost it along the way, focusing only to evangelism, reaching people around us but forgetting the mandate of Great Commission. As we reminded by the UNCHANGING CALL even in a CHANGING TIME let us remember God made everything available for us. (1 PPT) All we need is to always remind ourselves of God’s Governing Power, God’s Guaranteed Process & God’s Gracious Promises so that we can able to FULFILL His CALL in our Time and the time to come. (2 PPT)
