The Great Commission – Our Lord’s Mandate for His Church

Thank You

Prayer

Introduction

Alexander Strauch spoke at the 2018 TMAI Pre-Conference before The Shepherd’s Conference. His text was Matthew 28:18-20 (Christ’s Mission Statement for the Church He is building). His church preaches on this passage most every year in January.

For me this passage has special meaning: Salvation testimony; No discipleship; Evangelism Explosion; Carl & Ed; Follow-up Bible study; Military life

Text – Matthew 28:18-20

Main Point – Make Disciples

Context

Mark 16:15

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Luke 24:46-48

46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.

John 20:21

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Acts 1:8

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Who is speaking?

Who is He speaking to?

When is He speaking?

What did the disciples know about Jesus?

What do we know about Jesus?

Jesus has Authority as LORD ~ He is God; He is worthy – Jn 20:28; Phil 2:9-11; Rev 5

Scope

For all Nations ~ Acts 1:8; Acts 10; even though we are uncomfortable

For all Time ~ For us Jn 17; 2 Tim 2:2; It transcends our life which elevates its vitalness

Commission (What is it?)

· A Command – From the LORD Jesus Christ (Therefore)

o Make Disciples ~ AAI; Main Verb; What is a Disciple? (Acts 11:26; Luke 6:40); Starts with the Gospel & Evangelism - 1 Cor 15:1-4; But more than just evangelism - Acts 14:21-23; 1 Thess 1:2-10

§ Going - APP; Subjunctive sense; We MUST go to make disciples - MOVE; This should be part of our DNA

§ “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed”– J. Hudson Taylor

§ Baptizing ~ PAP; Obedience & Identification; Rom 6:3-4; We are proclaiming we believe the Gospel, that our lives have been changed, we are members of the Body of Christ, and that we are following the Lord Jesus Christ

§ Teaching (to observe, keep, follow, do – obeyall things that I have commanded you (God’s Word) – Jn 8:51; 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10; 17:6; 1 Jn 2:3; 2 Tim 4:7) ~ PAP; Not just information but Active Life Change; Obedience oriented teaching; Belief and Behavior always go together; James 1:22

§ What is your strategy to do this?

§ Teaching – What, Why, How; Training – I do it, We do it; You do it

· A Co-Work

o We are working withHim Present ~ Jn 14:20-23; His promise; We are not alone!

o We are speaking His Word~ Jn 14:10, 26; Acts 20:27; Not our ideas

o We are doing His Work ~ Eph 2:10; Jn 14:12; Titus 2:11-14; Not our works

Application

· Are you obeying the Lord’s command and attempting to make disciples?

· “I will not give a rusty nail for your religion if you can be quiet about it. That which is nearest to the heart is generally most on the tongue.” – Charles Spurgeon

· “God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into hell!” – Charles Spurgeon

· “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you're not saved yourself, be sure of that!” – Charles Spurgeon

· Have you followed the Lord’s command and gotten baptized?

· Are you obeying God’s Word doing all that you know He wants you to do?

· Is there some sin you MUST forsake or even a good thing that is keeping you from making disciples?

· Making disciples is costly!!!

· Philippians 1:29-30 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

· Do you know God’s Word? Have you read the entire Bible? Are you studying it? Memorizing it? Meditating on it?

· Are you going – through life on purpose?

· Maybe you are not making disciples because you are not a disciple!

Conclusion

In 1979 I went to visit a small island on the coast of South Carolina called Paris Island. There is a sign there that says, “We Make Marines”. I became a Marine. The Marine Corps knows how to make Marines. They’ve been doing it for more than 247 years. When you become a Marine, you’re a Marine for life.

The Marines have a storied reputation for being fighters. The armies of the world fear them. I visited Dundee Scotland once and a street thug approached me and asked if I wanted to fight. I told him the Marine Corps didn’t teach me how to fight, they taught me how to kill and I was concerned if we got into a fight that I’d kill him. He backed off. A Japanese Rear Admiral in WWII proclaimed, “A million men cannot take Tarawa in 100 years.” The Second Marine Division did it in four days.

In Acts 17:6 – The disciples were accused of turning the world upside down. They went everywhere proclaiming the gospel and making disciples. They had a profound influence on their world. Matthew 16:18 says – the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Lord’s church.

The Church must stop having country club and cruise ship mentality. We must get off the Ledo deck and back on the battleship, fighting the good fight for the eternal souls of men.

There should be a sign outside the buildings where the church assembles that says – We Make Disciples. Inside the doors as we leave should be the words – Go and Make Disciples. We need to be turning our world upside down! Are you a soldier of the Lord, a follower of the Lamb?

Prayer

Father, thank You for Your Word and the opportunity we’ve had to hear it this morning. May you equip us and lead us to do Your work, which You’ve planned for us to do. May You bring forth fruit for Your Name’s sake, using us in Your Service, whatever the cost. For those who are babes or in sin, convict them. Give them an insatiable thirst for You and Your Word. If they are disobedient, withhold Your Peace until they are right with You. For the lost, reveal their rebellion and Your Wrath that abides on them. Open their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ and bring them to repentance and salvation. May You do Your Work, Your Way, for Your Glory. In Jesus’s Name, amen.