Today we will start by reading 2 passages.
Matthew 28:19-20
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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always- to the very end of the age.
Acts 1:8
“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.
Matthew 28 is the great commission. There are 4 verbs… Go and Make disciples of all nations. Baptize them. Teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. (Promise: I am with you always)
What does commission mean? To give someone the official authority to do a Mission/assignment.
When we think of a Mission: I personally think of Tom Cruise… climbing this beautiful mountain and this helicopter comes and send …what I thought was a missile to kill him. But he goes up to the missile hits a button and takes out his next assignment – a secret mission.
And like mission Impossible… we, as Christians , were also given an assignment.
For the last 2000 years since the resurrection of Jesus…people have obeyed and Christianity has spread.
Jesus said: Go and make disciples. Verbally. People give testimony and more and more people hear of Jesus and see him as our Savior.. He took away our sins. With no TV, no radios....today we sit in church 2000 years later...because of people verbally telling others the GOOD NEWS of Jesus.
But back in Jesus’s day they called the followers of Jesus: DISCIPLES.
Let’s look at the definition of : disciple . Interestingly disciple is used 29 times used in New testament in Greek the word is: mathétés
Pronunciation: ma-thay-TAYS
This derived from the root word math. What does Math and Disciple have in common? Math means to put into practice what you have learned. So application is important. To master math you have to apply it.
If you are a disciple of Jesus, you are learning and applying his lessons, His Word, in your life. LESSON
Let’s look at
John 8:31 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
IF YOU HOLD TO MY TEACHING> You believe , and practice it.
James 1:22-24 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves (fooling yourself). Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
AGAIN: LISTEN AND DO.
Luke 6:40 40 The student (disciple in Greek) is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
So the goal of discipleship is to become like Christ.
Are you A believer? Or a disciple?
Are you following the WORD OF GOD?
Today we do not use DISCIPLE, we use the word Christian. When did the followers of Jesus start using CHRISTIAN instead of disciple?
• Acts 11:25-26 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
It was the non believers who started calling them Christians. They added the IANS…because they were followers or disciples of Christ.
Following the teaching of Jesus. Are you a follower of Jesus?
If people cannot tell if you are a Christian then you are not putting it into practice.
Some people come to church to learn…. But they don’t put it into practice.
Discipleship is a life long process.
You never arrive
You can’t retire from being a disciple. Paul who was a pharisee and well educated said this.;;
Philippians 3:12-16 example Paul wrote
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Paul knew he wasn’t perfect… but he worked at sharing his faith. He had a desire to tell people what Jesus did in his life. He understood that we are all called to the Great Commission:
. 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 Great Commission was not a calling, (for just pastors, teachers, and missionaries)
nor an option.
It was a command. (to all of us)
The life of Jesus has endured for 2000 years by people telling others what Jesus did for them. How He changed their life.
So how has Jesus changed your life? Where would you be without Jesus.? When we remember what he has done….we are more apt to share with others.
But our testimony doesn’t fall on empty ground. Jesus told the disciples to wait until the Holy Spirit came down upon them…
in Matt 28:19 Jesus said
“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.
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. It will fall on dead ears. But when the Holy Spirit is there.. the ground if fertile.
It is the Holy Spirit that can cause the timing of things to be perfect.
So look again at the verse Matthew 28:19
…where were the disciples called first to do evangelism: in Jerusalem. They had to go there first. It was the hardest place to start. It was the place where Jesus was killed…hung on the cross publicly like a murderer. But it was also the same place…where they heard rumblings that Jesus rose from the dead.
So for us… to be a witness in our family and close friends can be a bit hard. Like Jerusalem. Our family and friends know our foibles. Our shortcoming, imperfections. So we feel like we have no clout as we talk to family. They are the hardest to witness to.
But hopefully the people see the life of the before Christian experience and after. There should be a difference.
If you have been a Christians for a long time…. Your life should be a reflection of Jesus.
If we were to go to your work place… go to your school and ask the people at work or school if you acted like a Christian. What would they say?
Your actions and Words need to reflect Christ. We can evangelize to family members simply by being a living example. Your words and behavior on a consistent basis…should show that you are a disciple of Jesus
If you are having a hard time witnessing… please remember my favorite question in evangelism. “If you were to die today…where would you go.?” This gives you an opening and I have NEVER had anyone be hateful.
So today… I decided to go through 3 examples of using this evangelism question with 3 different responses of people and my three responses.
1st Example:
All of us have relatives or friends we want to ask them this question but are hesitant. But when the person is put on hospice. It is time to gather your courage and have a talk to them about their eternity. Hospice means that they will probably die within 2 years. Although I knew one guy that was on hospice for 3 years.
Now when you are put on hospice. Most of them know that they are dying. So it is time to deal with the Elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. The person on hospice knows that he/she are dying. So quit avoiding the thing. This is the most important time to step up. You do not want your family member to go to hell. So ask the question.
Me. So how are doing with being put on hospice? (listen) So you know Jean…I have never asked you this question…. But if you were to die today...where do you think you would go?”
Person: They might say… I don’t know….
Me: Ok… so, “how does one get to heaven?”
Person: I don’t know.
Me: How does a person go to hell?
Person (they usually say sins. )
Me. So to go to hell you have committed sins. So to get to heaven you have to get rid of the sins. How do you get rid of sins? (if they don’t know… continue) And that is what Jesus did when he died on the cross. When you ask Jesus to forgive you of you sins and that you will follow him… then you will go to heaven. Would you like to do this?
2nd Example
Some one died in the family that is a Christian : Talking to an Aunt who is not.
Me: How are you doing with John’s death? (listen) For me…I am thankful that he was a Christian which means I will see him again. BUT What about you… if you were to die today where would you go.
Person: Heaven
Me: why?
Person: Good enough. Do good deeds. I give to the poor…etc.
Me: Well there is a verse
• Romans 3:23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• in Ephesians 2:8-9
• 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
• John 3:16…. That says Jesus died for our sins.
• Have you ever asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins?
The next 3rd EXAMPLE/ situation is harder.
I asked the question, “if you were to die today, where would you go?”
The person does not believe in God… they tell me that all roads lead to heaven. All religions will be in heaven.
Take out a bunch of keys. Well I have a bunch of keys here… will one key open all the same doors?
John 14:6 “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” – John 14:6
I just wanted to give you some examples on responses to give to someone when you ask “if you were to die today where would you go?”
Now let’s go back to the verse that Jesus said to wait until the HS. He is with you when you witness.
Acts 1:8 Jesus said
“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.
I know that some of you are witnessing. I have heard people tell me that so and and so has invited them to this church. So I know that the Holy Spirit has put a weight on their heart and is pushing them to come. That is HIS job, not ours. We invite and let the Holy spirit MOVE them.
I will continue this next week but what I wanted you to understand. The Great commission
Take Away
1. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you are learning and applying his Word , the Bible to your life. Are you growing spiritually? Become more Christ-like
2. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then the call. “to go and make disciples”, evangelism, is not just for pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. We are all assigned to the task of spreading the gospel and witnessing to our family and neighborhoods. This is the great commission.
I have some questions for you to evaluate how well you are living out the Great commission.
a. Have you ever invited someone to church this year?
b. Have you ever given someone your testimony: why you became a Christian?
c. Have you ever shared your devotions or talk about Christ to non- Christians?
d. Have you asked the question, “if you were to die today where would you go?”
Homework:
• 1. Talk about Jesus to someone.
• Or
• 2. Invite someone to church.
• Or
• 3. Ask the question: If you were to die today…where would you go?
It is a call to action.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 is a call to action: "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." This command challenges us to actively share the gospel and nurture others in their faith, expanding God's kingdom on earth
