Therefore, Go: Matthew 28:18-20

(Smile , breathe, and slow down For the Lord is with you)

Introduction to myself: Good morning Koinos Christian Fellowship! I want to thank you all for having my wife and I today. We personally have been very encouraged to see how this church has spent 4 straight weeks discussing missions. From preaching on God’s call to the church to reach the nations, to his call to the individual, then focusing on God’s call to the nations concerning missions, and now today where I will get to focus on our obedience to Gods call to reach the nations. I am honored to be speaking at a church that really desires to see the gospel spread and take root amongst all the nations. So, thank you for having me.

My name is Philip Barnhart. I am a fifth year Masters of divinity student at Cedarville University. I have absolutely loved my time there and am looking forward to my last semester. Cedarville is near to my heart, for there I have not just recieved a wonderful education but have also met my best friend/ AKA my wife, Grace. Grace and I have been married since May of 2022, so about 18 months ago.

We have been members at Trinity Church in Dayton where we have an awesome group of people that we get to call family. We joined the church right when it planted about 2 years ago. As Grace mentioned, we had the awesome opportunity to spend our summer in South Asia where we got to encourage missionaries on the front line, engage in the work of ministry to the lost and unreached, and aid a national church plant by discipling a few of the members and by helping them start and establish their local outreach. We have a strong desire to possibly return to this location or somewhere in this region in the very near future and, Lord-willing, spend a portion our lives there administering the gospel to those who have no current access to it.

Transition: Now that you know me a little bit, why don’t we jump into our passage for today? If you would, could you open your copy of God’s Word with me to Matthew 28:18-20. The famous great commission from Jesus himself is what we have on deck for today. Let’s read this together. The Word of the Lord says this…(pick up Bible).

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Friends, would you pray with me?

Introduction to sermon: Our passage today in Matthew 28 comes after Christ Jesus has just revealed himself as risen from the grave to his disciples. In a brief word, we get the final admonition of Jesus to his disciples before he ascends to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the father. In these few verses, Jesus is commanding his disciples, and us, to go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that he has commanded us. Yet, he does not expect us to do this under our own authority or in our own power. Rather, it is under the authority of Christ and through the power of Christ that we get to proclaim the good news of the gospel to the lost world.

But, if we are honest we may not be as active in this commission as Jesus intends us to be. Maybe some of us think that Jesus’ commission is good for others of course, but I am too busy. I simply can not make the time to share the gospel and make disciples like others can. Or maybe some us are too captured by our leisure activities, be it watching tv shows or playing sports or video games, that you simply do not make time for sharing the gospel and making disciples. Or maybe others of us feel inadequate for the task and instead of seeking help in how to go about this commission you simply do not do it at all. Whatever the case may be, we can be quick to make excuses for ourselves as to why we do not engage in this task.

Transition: Now, the goal of this passage is not to discourage us for what we are not doing, but to remind us of our primary calling and stir each of us up towards that end. For in Christ..

Main Point: We are all called to make disciples of all nations, in the authority and power of Christ (x2)

Transition: Let’s look back at the first verse in this section. Jesus claims that he has authority both in heaven and on earth, but why does this matter? Why would he front his commission to go and make disciples of all the nations with the fact that he has been given authority? This is because

1. The authority of Jesus gives us confidence for the commission (x2)

This authority in which Jesus has, was predicted back in Daniel 7:13-14 .

Daniel 7:13–14 ESV

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 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.

Jesus is the fulfillment of this passage in Daniel. He is the one whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, one in which shall not pass away, his kingdom is the one that will never ever be destroyed. And into his kingdom will come people from all nations and languages.

Christ connection: This same Jesus was although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Our Savior, our Lord, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself, who died in our places. We deserved the wrath of God because of our sin against Him, but our Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live and took our place on that cross, satisfying the wrath of God. Not only that but our perfect King rose again three days later defeating sin and death so that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ will be saved and will have a relationship with almighty God. How glorious, friends.

If any of you have not believed in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and a renewed relationship with God alone, can I just tell you that it is glorious. The creator, sustainer, and keeper of the universe wants to have a relationship with you. He loves you. Yet, you can not earn your relationship with him. You are not good enough for this relationship. In order to have a relationship with a perfectly holy God you too must be perfectly. Christ has died and rose again so that you can be forgiven of your sins by his blood, and be made righteous for God now sees you as he sees Christ, holy and blameless. Turn from your sin today and place your faith in Christ unto salvation.

If you are wondering more about what it means to place your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and a renewed relationship with God can I just encourage you to talk to elders of this church, you can talk to me, or ask someone around you.

(Transition): This same Jesus who has done all of this for us, because of his great love for us, has all authority in heaven and on earth. How ironic though that we speak of authority because we see an earthly “authority” in just a few verses before. Look with me to verses 11.

Matthew 28:11–15 ESV

11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Do you see the irony here?

There are authorities, that is the Jewish chief priests and elders, telling the soldiers to lie and say that his disciples stole his body, not that he resurrected from the grave. It seems Matthew structured this passage in such a way to show that although these chief priests and elders think they can twist their so called authority to deceive people, ultimately Jesus has all of the authority. The words of these chief priests and elders mean nothing. Jesus is assuring his disciples that no matter what the authorities of this world say or do, that He is the supreme authority over heaven and earth.

Dane Ortlund in his book “Deeper”,

“Jesus is not hoping to be in charge; he rules supremely now. The world’s sidelining of his authority does nothing to reflect the reality of that authority. From heaven’s perspective, everything is going according to plan. Jesus Christ is overseeing all that happens, both in the church and in world history at large. Our perception of and ability to see his rule may wax and wane; but that’s perception only. His actual rule holds steady—supreme, strong, exhaustive, all-seeing. No drug deal goes down apart from his awareness, no political scandal unfolds beyond the reach of his vision, no injustice can be exacted behind his back. When today’s world leaders gather together, they themselves are held in the hand of a risen Galilean carpenter.”

Apply: How does this change the way we understand the command of Christ to go and make disciples of all nations? This fact that Jesus has all authority should dispel our fear and give us the confidence to go. We are receiving a command that can not be stopped. The gates of hell will not prevail against the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, let us go in assurance that the King of Kings, the one who holds all authority, the one who has told us how the story will end, is in control, and He is with us.

Transition: Based upon this authority in which Christ has, He now gives his charge to the disciples. Look with me to the beginning of verse 19. (READ BIBLE)

Here Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, however in so doing...

2. Jesus calls us, as his disciples, to go and make disciples of all the nations (x2)

Jesus is not saving the work of making disciples for just the missionaries or the vocational pastors. Jesus calls not just those with a “ministry calling” to go and make disciples amongst all of the nations, but all of his followers alike. This means that wherever you find yourself right now, Christ Jesus wants you to make disciples. Whether you are a working professional, retired, a student (high school or college), a parent who stays at home, wherever you find yourself right now, God intends for you to be actively engaging in this work. You could seek to do this by more intentionally engaging the people around you, loving on them by asking about their lives and spending time with them. Through consistent fellowship with them the Lord may grant you an opportunity to invite them to church and maybe share the hope of the gospel that has so deeply changed your life. There are a number of ways to do this, but it first takes some thought as to where the Lord has you now, and then seeking to be a faithful light in that space.

However, this does not negate the fact that Jesus still intends for his people to make a special effort to make disciples of all nations and not just our own. God has a heart for every people group all over the world. This idea of God wanting to extend salvation to all the nations is not unique to Matthew.

This theme is first in Genesis 12:1-3 as it says..

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God promises to bless “all” the families of the earth through Abraham’s descendant (which is Christ Jesus).

Also, if you can remember back to what Pastor Jonathan preached a few weeks ago we saw this theme in Psalm 67:1-4.

Psalm 67:1–4 (ESV)

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, 2 that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.

God wants all nations to be glad in his presence to rejoice in his name.

This is a huge theme throughout the prophets as well, especially in Isaiah 2, Isaiah 2:2-3 says

Isaiah 2:2–3 (ESV)

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

Here, we notice that all the nations of the earth will one day be gathered together at the mountain of God worshiping Him.

Additionally, we see this theme at the end of the Bible too... Revelation 7:9 says..

Revelation 7:9 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

Our God is a God of the entire world and desires that all nations worship Him. He not only desires this, but as these verses tell us, he will bring this about. Yet, as many of us are aware this is not the current state of salvation history.

Because as Pastor Jonathan mentioned this last week, over 3 billion people in over 7,000 people groups are currently unreached by the gospel.

About 2.5 years ago, David Platt posted on Radical a very sad article. Here is a portion of it..

Churches are spending approximately 99% of their missions resources in places that are already reached with the Gospel. Put another way, churches are spending approximately 1% of our missions resources among the 3 billion people in 7,000 people groups who haven’t heard the Gospel. The world population is approximately 7.75 billion people, and only 3 billion of those people—about 40%—are considered unreached. Or, to state it in terms of people groups, over 7,000 of the world’s 17,000 people groups are classified as unreached. In terms of missionaries sent out, approximately 400,000 Christians are classified as missionaries. Someone is considered a missionary (for the sake of these statistics) if they have moved somewhere else for the spread of the Gospel. Out of those 400,000 only 11–12,000—about 3%—are going to unreached people. That doesn’t mean that those who serve among reached peoples are not worth honoring, but surely more than 3% of missionaries in the church should go to the over 3 billion people who never hear the Gospel.

These statistics are sad and daunting are they not? These stats in and of themselves could spur us to pray, give, and go. We should want to see these statistics changed, and the more missionaries that go to these unreached places, Lord-willing the more this statistic will change. However, we must be careful to make sure that we have the right motivation in going to the field. If our only motivation for going, supporting, and for praying is to see results, that is lost people saved, we may quickly become disheartened. This could lead us to return home, stop giving, and even stop praying when we feel like the Lord is not saving people through our efforts.

Illustration: It can be easy for missionaries, or those supporting missionaries to give up after 5 or 6 or even 11 years of not seeing anyone come to Christ. I met someone last year serving in Northern Africa that did not see someone become a Christian for 11 years. Does that make them a failure? Absolutely not. After that 11th year, God blessed them with the first believer of the people group they were targeting and from there has been growing their number. If these missionaries were primarily motivated to go to the mission field to see conversion or results or to change the number in which we saw above, then it would have been terribly hard for them to remain on the field and trust that God really “called” them there.

While a desire to see the lost saved is a good secondary motivation our primary motivation must be a zeal for the glory of God. We are not promised a timeline as to when people will get saved or even the amount of people in which the Lord will bring to himself. So, it is very important for each of us to understand what our primary motivation for obedience to this great commission should be.

If you would could you hold your place in Matthew 28 and turn to Psalm 96. Psalm 96:1-6 is very eye opening when considering this primary motivation for the Great Commission.

Psalm 96:1–6 ESV

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

In this Psalm, we are called to sing to the Lord and tell of his salvation from day to day. We are to declare his marvelous deeds, to declare his glory, why? Look at verses 4 through 6, he we see why we declare his glory. It tells us that our God is great. He is to be feared above all other gods, for they are worthless idols; while is the creator of the universe.

John Piper has a book called “Let the Nations be Glad” be glad and if you look on your bulletin there is a list of books that have been majorly influential in both my wife and I’s life. This is one I would highly recommend for everyone. I have a short passage from this book which clarifies the primary motivation for carrying out the Great Commission.

Piper says...

“God is calling us above all else to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the supremacy of God in all of life. No one will be able to rise to the magnificence of the missionary cause who does not feel the magnificence of Christ. There will be no big world vision without a big God. There will be no passion to draw others into our worship where there is no passion for worship. God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of his name among the nations. Therefore let us bring our affections into line with his, and, for the sake of his name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts, and join his global purpose.”

Brothers and sisters, can I encourage you to stoke the passions of worship in your heart by looking to God in his Word? Read the Word daily and be reminded of his goodness and mercy. Pray that the Lord would allow you to rejoice in His goodness and mercy. Pray that your worship of Him would never grow dull, but that you would continually be led to praising Him as you remember Him in His Word. How wonderful it would be to see our hearts grow so in love with our God, so in awe of our God, so passionate for the worship of God that we can not help but proclaim his name and make disciples. Our love, awe, and worship of God coupled with a burden to see the lost saved will motivate us to go, support, and pray and will sustain us along the way.

Transition: Yet what does it look like to make disciples amongst the nations. Flip back with me to Matthew 28. Let’s look to the second half of verse 19 and beginning of verses 20. (READ BIBLE)

Jesus makes it clear that…

2a. Making Disciples includes baptizing believers and teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded (x2)

We must be careful to notice that we are not called to merely make converts but disciples. Jesus is explaining to us that making disciples consists of baptizing new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and the Spirit and teaching these believers to observe all that Jesus has commanded.

We are called to baptize new believers because baptism signifies someone being brought from death in their sin to life in Christ Jesus, and to communicate to the watching world that they are now believers in and worshipers of the God of the Bible. Following this, Jesus tells us that we are to teach these new believers to observe (that is, obey) all that Christ has commanded. Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 that “35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Therefore, discipleship ought to center on his commands.

Application: It is important to note here that discipleship is not just for new believers, rather discipleship never ends. Whether we have been Christians for 40 years or 1 month, we have never arrived, and still face a very real enemy who is seeking to devour us. So let us participate in discipleship week by week, through hearing the Word preached, attending the teaching of the Word in Sunday school or small groups, and even in the one-on-one discipleship with other members. I would encourage you to participate in this means of discipleship, as both the discipler and disciplee if you will.

If we are considering going to the missions field it is especially important to seek out this deep discipleship and training while we are still in the States. Lord-willing we will go to places where there is no gospel access, we will see people accept Christ in faith, baptize them, and then start a local church. Within this local church is where we will be able to teach all that Jesus has commanded us and in so doing raise up national leaders. We are told in 2 Timothy 3:15 that the church is the pillar and buttress of the truth. Thus, for those of you with a desire to do overseas missions work amongst the unreached and unengaged, preparation is necessary. We can not teach what we do not know, and Jesus calls us to teach all that he has commanded us. Thus, we need to be well equipped to do so. If you have a desire to go talk to your elders so that they can aid you in next steps.

Transition: Now, If you would look down with me to the last few words of verse 20. (READ BIBLE)

Jesus does not end his commission with a call to make disciples of all nations by ourselves in our own power and ability.

Rather, he tells us that he will be with us until the end of the age. Jesus is explaining to us that

3. His presence empowers us for this Great Commission (x2)

We can take courage because the Christ who holds all authority on heaven and earth, is with us. What a marvelous truth. We need not to think that we are inadequate; for we have Christ Jesus with us. We need not think that we are unable because our God is able. We need not to be fearful, for Christ will comfort us in the valleys. Christ is with us. Our hope is sure.

Yet, how is he with us? Jesus explains to us in John 14:16-17

John 14:16–17 ESV

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The Spirit of Christ now dwells within us.

Romans 8:10–11

10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The eternal Spirit which raised Christ now dwells within us. What have we to fear?

This returns us right back to the main point of the text.

We are all called to make disciples of all nations, in the authority and power of Christ.

This the function of a local church. The local church is called to go out and proclaim the good news of the gospel to the unbelieving world, Lord-willing see these unbelievers saved by grace through faith, then baptized, then taught to obey all that Jesus commanded, all in the authority and power of Christ.

Whether we are in this local community or overseas the local church must remain central in this task.

As we wrap up our time today, I want to end with another quote from John Piper’s book to remind us of what we talked about. He says:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. The Great Commission is first to delight yourself in the Lord (Ps. 37:4). And then to declare, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps. 67:4). In this way God will be glorified from beginning to end and worship will empower the missionary enterprise till the coming of the Lord”‌

Can I encourage you to engage in the great commission locally and globally? God desires that people from all nations and languages would bow down before Him. Thus, let us go from here in the authority and power of Christ seeking to make disciples in this neighborhood, support the work of overseas missions financially and prayerfully, and consider whether God may be calling us to go overseas to an unreached and unengaged people group. Let us pray!

(PRAY FOR ALL OF THIS)