Go - Matthew 28:16-20

Intro

When I was first serving as an intern I was required to go on a short-term international mission trip to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

One of the most incredible and beautiful places I have ever been.

Amazing People.

But I had an awkward experience.

Crack land

Parking under an overpass

Going through hole in a wall singing this little light of mine.

I felt completely out of place in this broken place that desperately needed the gospel how in the world was I going to take Jesus to these people?

I remember giving out bread and juice and praying for the people.

When like a flash I missed Hannah. We were newly married and this was the longest we had been apart.

Jesus in that moment put this thought in my heart.

As much as I long for and miss my bride, how much more does he long for and desires to reconcile his bride to himself.

I remember praying for them and thinking Jesus how…how will you reconcile your bride, through clumsy and nervous people like me?

Perhaps you have felt this too.

Maybe you have a coworker you love dearly and they are far from Jesus.

Maybe it’s a family member that you wish felt the way you do about Christ.

Maybe you’ve shared your faith, walked through the reason for your confidence in Jesus and felt like it landed flat.

Sermons like this can feel, weighty.

They can feel like a good challenge but then as the reality of sharing the gospel comes you feel inadequate.

My hope is that this would be an encouragement to you today.

I pray that you would see the Great Commission with fresh eyes today.

We are landing the plan in our How to Love your Neighbor sermon series.

Today we are again looking at the Great Commission

Here is the Bid Idea:

Big Idea: We are called to go to our neighbors with the hope of Jesus.

That’s the idea.

Go.

Today before we really get to the meet of the text in verses 18-20 I want to start by looking at verse 16-17 to preface our time together.

Matthew 28:16–17 (ESV)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

Before Jesus commissions the disciples there is a posture.

So Coram Deo let me ask you this question, what posture do you bring this morning?

Do you come expectantly?

Or do you come doubting?

Do you coming willing, eager to see God move?

Or are you coming indifferent…cold and distant?

Before we get further I want to just put my cards on the table.

Part of me wanted to build to this point but I am realistic and I know that your mind may wonder as I preach.

So I want to give you this gold nugget from the beginning.

Because if you hear nothing else, though I hope you stay with me…I want you to hear this.

If you are like me, the great commission has felt ominous.

Maybe you have been at times inspired to go, but you lose that zeal.

How are we ever going to accomplish this.

Pastor Jack Miller once posed this and it has radically changed the way I think about this passage.

The Great Commission or missionary command has two sides: 1. A Command to go and disciple (an impossible task), and 2. A Promise from Jesus to be with us as we obey the command (the power to do: am impossible task). _Jack Miller

Just sit with that for a minute.

An impossible task, but the power to do the impossible.

I said last week that you don’t save anyone.

But how often have you believed that you do.

Do you realize that disciple making is an impossible task?

Have you felt that reality.

Let me just asking, can you make anyone sincerely follow Jesus?

Can you change the human heart?

The answer is no.

But the one who goes with you…He can.

It’s with this understanding Coram Deo that I want to go to the rest of this passage.

Because this will turn everything on it’s head and I pray, it will inspire you to go to your neighbors with the hope of Jesus.

Let’s jump in first with a kingdom proclamation

I. Kingdom Proclamation (v. 18)

Matthew 28:18 (ESV)

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

This is a Kingdom Proclamation…the king has been enthroned!

A brand new day has dawned.

Jesus has won the decisive victory over sin, death, and satan.

He has accomplished this through his perfect obedient life, his atoning death on the cross, and his glorious resurrection.

Because of this Jesus is now exalted by the father in this new enthroned position with all rule and authority.

Jesus friends is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is a fulfillment of Daniel 7.

Daniel 7:14 (ESV)

And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

The everlasting dominion has begun Jesus tells us.

Now buckle up cause we’re gonna do a little bit of theological work together and then I’ll help to unpack it.

Jesus, now risen from the dead, is saying in His Kingdom proclamation that Daniel 7 has been fulfilled in its first stage.

Jesus, the Son of Man, is now on the throne.

He is the King of the nations.

Jesus is declaring in no uncertain terms that He is Lord of the harvest and that His grand redemptive purpose is to bring into the barn of salvation all the chosen people of God from the nations of the earth.

Legally, Jesus won His victory through His obedient life and death on the cross.

By His substitutionary atonement He canceled the debt we wracked up by our sins and with that legal stroke Jesus officially destroyed Satan's authority over the nations.

As long as there was no effective atonement for sin, the nations stood under God's curse and the condemning authority of Satan as legal accuser.

But with Christ's assuming human nature and undergoing a vicarious death for sinners meaning dying in our place, Satan's right to condemn transgressors is over.

The resurrection shows the Father's acceptance of His Son's atoning sacrifice and the dethronement of Satan.

In other words Jesus has put death in the ground.

He as satisfied the wrath of God.

He has crushed the head of the snake, shutting the mouth of the accuser.

Now does Satan still work? Does he still blind and bind the nations, yes but now his work in in an illegal guerrilla warfare operation because he knows the war has been won.

The people are no longer under the authority of the Evil One, but under the authority of the Son of Man.

This is like you being on a play ground, getting pushed over and beaten down by a bully.

But now your bigger stronger older brother has showed up.

And that bully is running away with his tale tucked between his legs.

Listen Jesus has won.

But far too often we forget that reality and live as though Satan still reigns over us.

Coram Deo he doesn’t he is a liar.

Every condemning word from his mouth is a lie and a farce because Jesus has secured the victory.

So when you hear the whispers of fear, “I can’t say anything…they’ll hate me.”

“It will be so awkward.”

“I don’t have the answers, I don’t know enough.”

Those are all lies that come with a hiss.

Know that Jesus breathes courage up your backbone and pushes you forward under his authority.

Jesus has authority.

Think about what we see in the gospels

He has authority over nature and nations.

Jesus calmed the sea with a rebuke (8:26), showing His mastery over nature.

His authority over nations is one of the central themes of the Great Commission, since all peoples are to be His disciples.

He has authority over disease and demons.

When Jesus speaks, the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are healed, and disease is gone (4:23-24). He speaks, and demons flee (8:28-34).

He has authority over sin and death.

As the Son of God, Jesus has authority to forgive sin against God (9:1-7). He also has authority to overcome man's ultimate enemy, death, which is the payment for sin (28:1-10).

He has authority over our lives.

Jesus' authority extends to every individual, which for us means dying to self (16:24-25).

For the believer, there should be a glad submission to the lordship of Jesus.

This means, in relation to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, that we must be open to whatever the Lord calls us to..

He has authority over every life.

Jesus has authority over every life in this world (25:31-33), and this is why we seek to make disciples of all nations.

While the Great Commission certainly compels us to go, even to difficult places, we're not left on our own in this mission.

Jesus authority gives us confidence as we go.

I mean...Who are we to go to another people group, or even coworkers, and tell them that they are following false idols, and that if they don't turn to Jesus, they will die forever?

The world views this as arrogant, and even as far as many people in the church are concerned, communicating this to people makes no sense.

However, if the Gospel is true- that is, if Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, if He rose from the grave in victory over sin and death, and if there is no one like Him and He reigns as Lord over all- then telling a lost world about Jesus is the only thing that makes sense!

What doesn't make sense is millions of Christians sitting back and saying nothing to the nations.

Instead, we ought to go with confidence, knowing that the One who sent us is sovereign over all and worthy of worship from all.

It’s with this understanding that we move to the next part that is what we are supposed to do.

So see second the task commanded.

II. Task Commanded (v19-20a)

Matthew 28:19–20a(ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

We start with the kingdom proclamation that Jesus has all authority.

Then we are given a command.

We are called to Go and make disciples.

After telling us of His authority over heaven and earth, the next words out of Jesus mouth are, "Go, therefore" (v. 19).

It is as if He's saying, “in light of My authority, go!"

This is not a comfortable call inviting most Christians to come, be baptized, and sit in one location.

Yet, that is exactly what we are tempted to turn our mission into, and if we are not careful, this is what our Christianity will consist of.

We may come to a worship service, participate in the life of the church, serve in the church, and give regularly, all the while neglecting to make disciples.

The church is filled with people who have been Christians for 5, 10, 15, or even 50 years, who have never led someone outside of their family to be a reproducing disciple.

We have missed our mission.

If Matthew 28:19 is not a comfortable call for most Christians, then what is it?

This is a costly command directing every Christian to go, baptize, and make disciples of all nations.

This has been the plan from the beginning.

In Jesus' initial introduction to the disciples in this Gospel, He said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt 4:19).

From the very beginning, Jesus made clear that everyone who followed Him would fish for men.

According to Jesus, from beginning to end, to be a disciple is to make disciples.

Scripture knows nothing of disciples who aren't making disciples.

Yet, if you were to ask Christians today what it means to make disciples, you'd likely get jumbled thoughts, ambiguous answers, and probably even some blank stares.

Consequently, we urgently need biblical guidance on this foundational command.

There's one imperative verb in Matthew 28:19 "make disciples"-and it is surrounded by three participles: going, baptizing, and teaching.

Is this what we are doing?

In light of the massive needs and the commission Christ has given us, Coram Deo may we make disciples and multiply in our neighborhoods and among all peoples.

Y’all we live in a world of sin, rebellion, suffering, and pain, a world where over three billion people live on less than $2 a day, and a billion of those people live in desperate poverty.

Hundreds of millions are starving and dying of preventable diseases.

Yet the spiritual condition of the world is even worse: billions of people across the world are engrossed in false religions, and approximately two billion of them have never even had a chance to hear the gospel.

According to Scripture, they are all on a road that leads to an eternal hell.

Yet as believers, we know that Jesus is Lord and that He has died on the cross for our sins and risen from the grave.

The Spirit of God has opened our hearts to see and to believe.

He has saved us to know God and to enjoy Him, and very soon we will be with Him forever in glory.

But while we're here, God has given us His Spirit for one purpose: We have been charged with reaching the world with the gospel.

There was a missionary in China leading a bible study with a visiting team.

Then at last a Chinese girl who had recently come to faith spoke out of an experience none of the others had.

Will we take the hope of Jesus to our neighbors?!

So far in this commission we have seen a kingdom proclamation and a task commanded.

Maybe you feel like you’re up against the ropes…and you’re thinking, “Um I thought I’d be inspired not just convicted.”

We need both so...

Let’s see finally third a promise of power.

III. Promise of Power (v.20b)

Look at the end of verse 20

Matthew 28:20b (ESV)

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Remember we started our time with the reality that the call to make disciples is an impossible task.

But we also said there was in this commission a promise that makes the impossible possible.

Again you cannot turn the heart of stone to the heart of flesh…but the Spirit of the living Christ can.

Again here this from Jack Miller:

His promise to be with us till the end of the age is no mere pat on the back to say that He will be with us at a distance, with the energizing power supplied by ourselves. No, never! He is saying that in all our work He will be secretly working by His own inward presence in our lives, taking away our fears, giving us love for the lost, enabling us to forgive our enemies and friends, and giving us a fervent trust in the power of the gospel to bring men to faith and eternal life. _Jack Miller

If you are going to be obedient to Christ’s call the power to be obedient comes from him.

If we are going to make disciples, we can only do so if we are dependent on Jesus!

Be encouraged, Coram Deo, for this mission is not based on who we are or what we can do.

This mission is assured based on Christ's presence through His Spirit.

So why do we lack in fervency if this is the case?

In a word we have forgotten.

We forget who has authority and who has promised to be with us.

The answer to our lack of intentionality is a lack of trust.

We need to recover faith.

You see believing in Jesus is the way the Spirit of Christ takes over in the church.

I remember last year really praying and thinking about the make up of our congregation thinking that this church had such potential with all of its gifts and resources.

But that's not a biblical mind-set.

It doesn't matter how gifted a church is or how blessed it is materially, for the people of God can do nothing apart from power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1.8).

However, when the Spirit works among a people, that church can shake the nations for God's glory.

Rather than being based on what we can do, this mission is based on who Jesus is and what He is able to do in and through our lives.

Christ is able to do "beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us" (Eph 3:20).

A practical story:

Tom and Angela had lived in their neighborhood for about twelve years without really getting to know many people.

They lived in a cul-de-sac of eleven houses and had limited communication and interaction with the people around them.

They admitted that this felt strange because they really had a desire to know their neighbors better, but nobody was making the first move…

A number of years went by until finally Tom and Angela decided to do something.

One of the biggest factors that had been preventing them from engaging their neighbors was timidity. ..They began by taking one simple step.

They switched yards.

Their kids had always played in the backyard, and that setting was the social hub of the family.

So Tom and Angela simply switched to the front yard.

They put up a swing in a front-yard tree and added some lawn chairs; that was about it.

Nothing happened at first. Then over the next few weeks, children and even dogs began to migrate into their front yard. Eventually adults followed.

Soon both kids and adults were spending more time in their front yard than they could ever have imagined. And all they had done to attract this traffic was hang out where they could be seen.

Then Tom and Angela decided to go a step further by organizing a series of block parties.

Surprisingly, the first one they held went over quite well. All the neighbors really needed was someone to step forward and break the ice. Other parties followed…The results were powerful.

Barriers were broken down, and people started getting to know each other. Soon they were inviting one another into their homes. Neighbors began to assist neighbors in various ways, and ultimately opportunities kept arising to share the hope of Jesus…

Rebecca Pippert in her classic work on Evangelism says it so well:

Christians and non-Christians have something in common: we’re both uptight about evangelism. Our fear as Christians seems to be How many people did I offend this week? We think that we must be a little obnoxious in order to be good evangelists. A tension builds inside: Should I be sensitive to people and forget about evangelism, or should I blast them with the gospel and forget about their dignity as human beings? Many Christians choose to be aware of the person but then feel defensive and guilty for not evangelizing…Our problem in evangelism is not that we don’t have enough information—it is that we don’t know how to be ourselves. We forget we are called to be witnesses to what we have seen and know, not to what we don’t know. The key on our part is authenticity and obedience, not a doctorate in theology. We haven’t grasped that it really is OK for us to be who we are when we are with seekers, even if we don’t have all the answers to their questions or if our knowledge of Scripture is limited.

Oh, how we need to put aside small dreams and worldly ambitions.

We need to give Christ a blank check with our lives and then see where He leads.

Together, let's experience the power of His presence with us.

We want to be a part of something that is beyond us, something that requires supernatural strength.

We don't want to be preoccupied with programs and practices that we can manage on our own.

We should be desperate for the power of Jesus.

We know that obedience to the this call this Great Commission will not be easy, and we know it will be costly.

But we also know that it will be worth it.

Jesus will return and His reward will be infinitely greater than any cost we have paid.

So together, let's hope in the promise of His return for us.

The kingdom of our Lord Jesus will one day be fully and finally established, and we will see His face.

We are living--and longing-for that day.

Let’s go to our neighbors with the hope of Jesus.

Application Questions:

How does the authority of Jesus give me confidence in sharing my faith?

Have I taken the command to make disciples seriously? How might I need to repent? Where do I need help to grow?

What difference does Jesus’ statement, ‘And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ make in my life?