"THE WONDER OF HIS COMMISSION"
MATTHEW 28:16-20
INTRODUCTION:
Vance Havner tells the story of a fisherman by the name of Clem who amazed everyone with his fishing ability. It didn’t seem to matter what the weather was like or how productive other fishermen were, Clem everyday would catch his limit. Others wanted to go with him so they could see his successful fishing technique but Clem would never allow that. Finally the Game Warden grew suspicious. How could anyone be so successful day in and day out? So one morning the Game Warden and told Clem that he was going with him. Clem shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay, suit yourself." They got into his fishing boat and Clem went to a secluded cove. Finally, Clem said, "Well, I guess it’s time to fish." He reached over into his tackle box and got a stick of dynamite. He lit it, threw it in the lake. There was a huge underwater concussion sending hundreds of stunned fish to the surface. Clem calmly just got his net & scooped up the fish. The Game Warden, flabbergasted said, "Clem! You can’t do that. It’s illegal!" Clem just looked at him, reached down got another stick of dynamite, lit it, threw it in the game warden’s lap and said, "Are you going to fish or just sit there?"
Several of Jesus Christ’s first disciples were fishermen. But He took them away from the water and told them, "I want you to be fisher’s of men." By that He meant that He wanted His followers to continue His mission of reaching out to the lost. And He still wants those that follow Him today to “fish for people.” But to be quite honest, a number of us are doing more sitting than fishing. A George Gallup poll revealed that only 12% of those who claim to be "born again" Christians have ever actually talked to someone about Jesus. Not won someone to Christ, but even just shared their belief. What a travesty if that is anywhere close to true. The heart beat of the Church is evangelism, which simply means "sharing the good news of Jesus with others." When the Church reaches out to the lost we have succeeded in keeping the "main thing the main thing" and are following the commission Jesus gave us.
In Matt. 28, we see Jesus’ last words before He leaves this earth. Those words were to His marching orders to them, but they are ours too. Throughout Scripture the Church is told to carry on what Jesus says here. And this text presents a message for both seeker and saved alike. For here Jesus reminds us of how we are to respond to Him and what we are to be doing once we have received Him as Savior and Lord. So, let’s dig in & see the wonder of His commission.
I. RECOGNIZE THE KING’S AUTHORITY VS:18
Jesus said in vs:18- "All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to Me." We will never begin to carry out the task of reaching the lost until we recognize that the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe, our Commander and Chief has given this to us as an unavoidable assignment. Norman Vincent Peale once said, "Fishing for men cannot be separated from following Christ. If you are not fishing than you are not following." Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments."and here in the imperative, is His command. Our problem is we don’t like being given assignments or unavoidable tasks. We’re self-sufficient. Nobody makes me do what I don’t want to. And that’s true. But if you love Jesus, you will want to obey Him and before He actually gives the task, He establishes His authority to expect it to be done.
And when we will think about it, we know we must have authority. How would you like to get on a plane in an airport where there was no authority, like the FAA setting some absolutes? Every pilot could take off when he felt like it, without any restrictions from the control tower like which runway to use, or flight patterns, or controlled air space. Can you imagine two airplanes just trying to use the same runway? You could call it "Red Mountain Airlines" and give frequent survivor mileage. We need authority. And Jesus Christ said that He had all authority, over everything and everyone. If you have your Bibles with you let’s survey some Scriptures that establish the authority of Christ. There are at least 3 ways that Jesus demonstrated His authority while on this earth.
First, He taught with authority. The gospel of Luke gives several verses that speak of the amazement that people had for the way Jesus taught. Even at the young age of 12 they were amazed. In Luke 2 Jesus’ family goes up to Jerusalem for Passover and on the way home Mary & Joseph discover Jesus is missing but they find him in the temple with the religious leaders and Lk. 2:47 say, “Everyone was amazed at his understanding and His answers.” Jesus’ authority was given to Him by God. Twice God spoke out audibly about His Son. Once at His baptism in Luke 3:22- Then at His transfiguration in Lk.9:35 God says, "This is My Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him." So God is conferring His authority on Jesus by calling Him His Son and telling all to listen to Him. And those that did listen to Him were astounded with the authority by which He taught. Luke 4:31-2-"Then Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority."
But He didn’t just teach with authority, He displayed it through His actions. The miracles that were performed by Jesus were done to confirm that He was the Son of God, that He had the authority of God. The miracle that demonstrated most dramatically Jesus’ authority was the raising of Lazarus which we find in John 11. This friend of Jesus’ had been dead for 4 days and yet Jesus’ exhibited His authority even over death by raising Lazarus from the dead. The miracles were done by Jesus to show His authority, to demonstrate that He was the Son of God. Look at the passage I have printed for you there at the bottom of the first panel. John tells us the purpose of the miracles. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book.” Read the rest of that with me.. “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” You see, Jesus’ primary purpose wasn’t to perform miracles or to heal, that’s why He didn’t heal everyone. The healing, the miracles were done to give credibility to who He was & to His authority.
So Jesus taught with authority and displayed it through miracles but He also openly proclaimed it with words. And His disciples accepted His authority and taught others that Jesus had it. Acts 17:31-(GOD) has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed." Who is that man? Jesus. How do we know? Next sentence: "He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead." God is going to judge the world by an absolute standard of authority and that standard is Jesus Christ. Jesus said "all authority has been given unto Me." Not just over the Church and moral issues but over everything- politics, science, business, domestic issues. And that means Jesus Christ deserves our allegiance and obedience. He has the right to tell us what to do. And that’s the rub isn’t it? We don’t like anyone to have absolute authority over us.
In fact, the Bible teaches us that Jesus delegated His authority to three spheres of our living. (1) To the home. Ephesians 5 tells us that while the husband is the to be the leader in the home he is to lead like Christ. When we don’t do that we are disobeying God. Eph. 6 tells us that children in the home are to obey their parents. When you don’t, you aren’t just disobeying your Dad or Mom, you are disobeying God. (2) The Government. Rom.13 tells us to obey the governing authorities. When the government says don’t smoke in a restaurant or put on your seat belt and you don’t do it, you are not just disobeying the governments laws, you are disobeying God. (3) He’s delegated authority to the Church. Heb. 13:17 tells those in the church, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” When we refuse to submit to the leaders authority we are not just making trouble for them, but disobeying God. Now, I don’t believe that in any of these realms that Jesus is asking us to be puppets. But there is a right and a wrong way to challenge the authority God has given to us. We discuss things with our family, but we’re not just disobey. We can vote and legally try to change things in our government, but we are not to just ignore the laws. We can communicate with our leaders, openly asking why they are doing what they are doing, but we are not to just grumble, criticize & refuse to comply behind the scenes.
But let’s face it. It is in our nature to rebel against what we don’t like or want to do. You might be surprised to learn of those that think as a church we have no right to insist that couples do not live together outside of marriage if they want to be married here. Even though God clearly says that in His Word and we try to help the couples comply with God’s wishes, even offering a free room. We hear things like, “You have no right to impose your values on us.” Or at funerals that are held in this church and one of our staff presents the message of comfort but also of Christ and His saving grace and yet people have actually been angered and told us, “Giving a comforting message is fine but a funeral is not the place for preaching.”But Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” So, we have to decide whether we are going to submit to His authority and teach and preach according to His Word or if we are going to buck His right to tell us what to do so we can be more accepted by our culture. And all of us must decide.. Is Jesus a liar? Does He really have all authority? Is Jesus a lunatic? Was He just a madman thinking He had authority? Or is Jesus Lord? Is He who He says He is and therefore has the right to tell me what to do?
II. REACH OUT TO THE KING’S SUBJECTS - VS:19a
And in this context of what we are studying, what has He told those of us who are followers of Jesus, to do? Reach out to others, telling them about Him so they will follow Him. Let’s ask a few simple questions to see how He wants that done.
(1) Who are we to go to? That’s not too hard. Since we are to make disciples, we are to go to those who are not His disciples, those who don’t know Him, i.e. those who have not found the salvation that Jesus offers, the lost.
(2) And where do we find those we are to go to? Jesus says to go to ".. all nations." Jesus defines the lost as anyone, anywhere that isn’t reconciled to Him. No matter their color, no matter their nationality, no matter their lifestyle, no matter their economic level.. All nations. That makes this a worldwide assignment. That’s why we give our money to missionaries who spread the good news of Jesus in Colombia, Mozambique, the Indian nations and other places we cannot go personally. But His command to go to all nations also makes this a local assignment. We have established a primary outreach area of 15 miles in all directions from this church. That takes us north between Olathe and Delta, South to Colona, East to Cerro Summit, and West to Shavano Valley and beyond. Now, that is our primary area. If your from Delta or Ridgeway, we’re glad you are here but we recognize that we won’t have near the impact in those places as we will in our primary outreach area. And in this outreach area there are approximately 28 to 30,000 people. And get this.. According to a study we did ourselves, on any given Sunday you will only find about 5,000 of those people involved in church. It means that we have approximately 80% of the people in our outreach area that are unchurched. Beloved, God has laid given us a field white unto harvest, an awesome task to reach people that we walk and talk with every day.
But I think one of our problems of speaking to others is we are not convicted that there are actually lost people! We have heard so many soft-peddle sin that we have become confused as to who is lost. And our culture is trying to convince us that by making a determination that someone is lost we are being intolerant and narrow. But Jesus said. "Get out there.. Go." Because we are to be about His purposes. I like what our own Steve Ingram says, “You know whether you are a new Christian or a long time follower you are going to heaven. There is just degrees of maturity amongst the saved. But there is no degree of lost!” That’s what makes the lost our #1 priority, because they were the Lord’s, and the somber truth is, if you don’t have Jesus you won’t have heaven. And we must understand that because of the culture we live in people don’t even see themselves as lost. They are like the little boy who got separated from his parents in a department store. The store manager took him to his office and gave him toys to play with while he paged his parents. The parents who had been frantically looking for him burst into the office. When the child saw the look of panic on their faces he burst into tears. The manager said, "Son, you were playing fine, why are you crying now?" The boy said, "I guess I didn’t know I was lost until I got found." There are thousands who don’t know they are lost until we, through the love of Christ go find them!
(3) And how are we to go to them? He’s going to talk, in the last half of this verse about how those who come to Christ are to respond but here He gives the lesson on how to find the lost. We are to do it by going. Sound simple? It is. The Greek construction there means, "As you are going through your life." As you work, as you’re in the store, as your walking your dog... as you go through life you look and pray for opportunities to share Christ with the lost. No door to door confrontation, no calling program, just, as you go, share with others what Jesus means to you. You see, it’s "show & tell time." You show others how you handle problems, how you handle promotions, you show others how you handle the particulars of life. And as you go through life you are going to get opportunities to share why you go through life the way you do. Be looking for opportunities! Be praying for them! Please remind yourself from time to time that you are no different than the lost. The only difference is Jesus found you! We are all sinners. If you are in Christ, you are simply a sinner saved by grace. Steve Brown while contemplating a sermon on reaching others saw a tow truck that had picked up another tow truck and was towing it in. He prayed, "That’s it isn’t Lord? We’re just tow trucks, pulling other tow trucks, into the place where You can fix them." What do we do once we find them? Well, we must now resolve to bring these lost ones into His saving grace, His way. And Jesus lays out for us here a very clear, concise way the expectations he has of those who don’t have Jesus. If you are seeking God this morning here’s three things Jesus says for you do.
(1) Be willing to learn and follow. That begins by believing that Jesus is who He says He is and that He has authority over your life. His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave are proof that He loves you and wants to forgive your sin and have you live with Him for eternity. But you must first agree that you believe and want to commit to following Him. That includes being willing to repent or turn away from your sin and profess your belief that He is the very Son of God and you want to make Him to be your Lord.
(2) You are willing to be baptized. Notice, those who tell you about Jesus, who you make a commitment to follow, are commanded to baptize you. Now, let’s take a moment to answer some basics on Biblical baptism.
Who is to be baptized? Those who are learning (being discipled) and are willing to submit to Jesus’ request to be baptized. Notice, Jesus did not say baptize infants and then disciple them. Jesus did not say, baptize them and then confirm them so they know why they were baptized. He said, "disciple this person and then baptize them." Who is to do the baptizing? The one who is doing the discipling.. That is why if you are instrumental in bringing some one to Christ and they desire to be baptized, we will ask you to baptize them. It’s not a requirement but those who have done it will tell you it’s an honor. The discipler baptizes the discpilee, and how is that done?
Well, let me simply give you three words that the N.T. gives as a pattern for how baptism is done. I’ve listed quite a few passages for you I want you to look up. Since this is not a sermon on baptism I’m simply going to tell you how they did it in the Bible and ask you to look up the references to see if what I’m telling you is true. Three "I" words. (1) Baptism was done immediately. When a person came to Christ in the NT there was no waiting between their acceptance and baptism. In the Bible, when someone came to the Lord they were baptized immediately. Philip baptized the Ethiopian right away. Paul baptized the Phillipian jailer in Acts 16 in the middle of the night. They didn’t wait a month, they didn’t wait until there was a certain number, they baptized immediately. (2) Baptism was done by Immersion. There is no serious Bible scholar that I know, who does not say that the way they baptized in Jesus day and in the day of the Church in the NT was by immersion. John baptized our Lord and others in the Jordan river because "there was plenty of water.." Jn.3:23. Acts 8 tells us when Phillip baptized a man from Ethiopia that both Phillip and the man went into the water and they both came up out of the water. The same reason Phillip went into the water is the same reason you or I must when we baptize.. It takes both of you in the water to immerse.(3) Baptism was done into Christ. Jesus says here that we are to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That speaks of the authority by which this act is done. You are not baptized into a local church, you are baptized into a relationship with Christ under the authority of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That’s why if you have been baptized Biblically.. you submit to the Lord, by immersion, in the authority of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we do not require you to be re-baptized in order to be a part of this church. Because you were baptized into Christ. Now, if you come and you have been sprinkled or baptized as an infant, we are going to encourage and insist that you be baptized the same way they baptized in the N.T. So we are to be discipling, baptizing and one more thing.
Here are His expectations for both those coming into Christ (new Christians) and those who have been followers for some time. All of us are to reach, teach and grow. You see the church’s job is a balanced one. We are to bring then in, build them up and then send them back out. That’s every Christian’s assignment. And what are we to teach and be taught? Jesus tells us.. ".. everything I have commanded you." Not everything I’d like to hear, or everything that makes me feel good- but everything that He commands. From being baptized, to turning the other cheek, to sharing the gospel with others. That’s why our vision statement talks about first winning the lost but also that our desire is that everyone become FC2 - FC-FC- “Fully Committed Followers of Christ.”It’s why our very purpose of existing as a church is to make and mature disciples. So, we must go.. Because we can’t teach them unless we reach them and we can’t mature disciples unless we make disciples!
IV. REST IN JESUS’ ASSURANCES: vs:20b
As we close note not only that we are to recognize the Jesus authority, respond to Jesus’ assignment but we can rest in Jesus’ assurances. See the comfort offered? Jesus says, "I am with you always.." The KJV says, "And lo, I am with you always." But understand the context. While Jesus will never abandon you, that ’s a promise for all of life that is in Heb. 13:4, here He is talking here about the assignment. He is saying that you can’t have the "Lo.. " until you "go." In other words, when you go He will be with you, right beside you. I love the picture of the young man standing at the helm of a ship being tossed in a wild sea. There is Jesus, right beside him, His hand on the young man’s shoulder. When you go, you can depend on the Lo. And finally, note the duration of the promise. Jesus promises us to be with us in this task all the way until there is no more time to do it.
Chris Stanton’s son was going to run in his school’s marathon. Chris had helped his boy by training him for months. But the day before his son’s big race Chris was mugged and placed in the hospital. Chris asked his brother to go to his son’s race in his place and his brother agreed. And as his brother left the hospital room Chris said through tears, "Cheer loud for him and do your best to sound just like me." Jesus says, "My children, go to your friends, to everyone you meet and do your best to sound just like me." And “‘I’ll be with you always, even to the end of the age.”
