The Great Commission
Matt. 28:18-20
Introduction: Last words are precious. Whether someone you love is going on a short trip or will be gone for a long time, those last words they speak reverberate in your mind sometimes for years. “I love you.” “Take care of yourself.” “Be good now.” We remember the last words of famous people down through the years. Lou Gehrig said as he left baseball in 1939, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” General Douglas McArthur as he left the Philippines, “I shall return.” And when he resigned from the military, “And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away . . .”
And there have been some notable farewells by fictional characters. Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca, “Isla, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Some day you’ll understand that. Now, now. Here’s looking at you kid.” And I can’t repeat what Rhett Butler said in his final words in Gone with the Wind.
Perhaps the greatest farewell of all time is that given by Jesus Christ in Matt. 28:18-20 when he said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” In this famous farewell address, Jesus makes a great claim, gives a command, provides a method and ends with a promise.
I. The Claim
A. All authority has been given me in heaven and on earth.
1. Dan. 7:13-14 . . . Daniel’s vision, “One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.
3. Eph. 1:20-22 . . . Jesus’ authority given to him by God . . . “when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet
II. The Command.
A Make Disciples.
A disciple is one who accepts a teaching not only in mind but in life. He believes and imitates. A truth learned must be practiced. A disciple of Christ, talks like Christ, walks like Christ and acts like Christ. What was the mission of Christ on the earth? He said as he ate with Zachaeus in Luke 19:10, “The son of man has come to seek and to save the lost.” Jesus did not come to reform the world but to save the world from sin. Jesus said in John 8:31, “if you abide in my word then you are truly disciples of mind. The role of the Christian in society is not to clothe the naked, build homes for the poor and care for the sick. The role of the church is not to be socially active in order to eliminate the great social problems of our day. The role of the church is to “disciple.” Take the good news of the gospel to the lost so that they will become disciples, their lives will be changed and through their changed lives, the world will be changed. A changed world does not produce changed lives, rather, changed lives produce a changed world. The church has certainly changed the world through its charitable efforts, but these efforts should never become an end to themselves but rather a means to an end: the goal of bringing the world to Christ.
B. Of all the nations.
1. John 3:16 . . . “For God so loved the WORLD.”
2. Acts 1:8 . . . “You shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
3. Rom. 1:14 . . . “I am under obligation both the Greeks and barbarians, bot to the wise and to the foolish.
III. The method.
A. “Going therefore . . .”
The word “go” is a participle. Literally it says, “Going therefore . . .” The idea is that as we go about our daily lives, we are to take the gospel to anyone we meet, to anyone who will listen to us. We are not so much commanded to go as we are commanded to disciple while we are going!
B. “Making disciples”
How do you make a disciple? You do not have to know all there is to know in the bible to teach someone about Christ. The best method is to let your light so shine before men that they will see the Glory of God in your life. Then tell them where your light comes from and how you got it. Great bible knowledge helps but you can share the good news of Christ with only a few verses of Scripture.
C. “Baptizing”
A new and changed life begins with a death of the old life in the waters of baptism. Paul said in Rom. 6:3-4, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
D. “Into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” To be baptized “into” anyone is publicly to receive and adopt him as a religious teacher or lawgiver; to receive his system of religion. Thus, the Jews were baptized “unto Moses,” 1Cor. 10:2. That is, they received the system that he taught; they acknowledged him as their lawgiver and teacher.
So to be baptized into the name of the Father, means publicly, by a significant rite, to receive his system of religion; to obey his laws; to be devoted to him; to receive, as the guide and comforter of the life, his instructions, and to trust to his promises.
To be baptized into the Son, in like manner, is to receive him as the Messiah - our Prophet, Priest, and King - to submit to his laws, and to receive him as a Saviour. To be baptized into the Holy Spirit is to receive him publicly as the Sanctifier, Comforter, and Guide of the soul. The meaning, then, may be expressed: Being baptized into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a solemn profession of the only true religion, and a solemn consecration to the service of the Godhead
D. ‘Teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you.” It is after baptism that the in depth teaching is done. It is after baptism that the new disciple is taught to keep, preserve, guard and practice the whole word of God. The writer of Hebrews in 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Paul in his letter to Timothy in II Tim. 3:16, writes, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
III. The Promise: “I am with you always.”
A. This is the same promise God made to Moses at the burning bush in Exod. 3:11-12, “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?’ And He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.’”
B. This is the same promise God made to Joshua in Josh. 1:5, as he prepares to lead the people after the death of Moses, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”
C. This is the same promise God made to Gideon in Jud. 6:16, when God calls him to deliver the nation of Israel from the Mideonites, “The LORD looked at him and said, ‘Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?’ He said to Him, ‘O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.’ But the LORD said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.’”
D. This is the same promise God made to Jeremiah in Jer. 1:5-8, when God calls him to be a prophet, “‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ Then I said, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.’ But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not say, ’I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,’ declares the LORD.’”
E. This is the promise which Jesus makes to us today. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We in the church today are subject to the same command as those who stood on the mountain with Jesus and watched him ascend into the heavens. He told them and he tells us now, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” A soldiers of Christ, we have been given our marching orders. Let us therefore, Go!
