The Great Commission Of The Church Series

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.)