GO!

Introduction

Main Point: We are commanded by Jesus to make disciples EVERYWHERE THAT WE GO!

Body

GUYS, let’s GO!

Matthew 28:16-20 is legitimately my favorite passage in the Bible. I always used to say that my life verse was Ezekiel 36:26, or Titus 3:5, but let me just be real. When I’m dead, I hope that my family, my friends and everyone that I meet thinks, “Man, Daniel really lived out Matthew 28:19-20.

And I am SO EXCITED TO BE HERE WITH YOU GUYS! Like guys, I have been praying for you all ever since camp ended and I’m so glad that I’m here tonight.

But let’s be real. The best thing that we get to do together isn’t kickball, or other games. It isn’t “sleeping.” The best thing that we get to do is to look at God’s Word.

Let me just give some context for this passage. In Matthew 26 Jesus is betrayed by Judas and is arrested. In Matthew 27 Jesus is beaten, mocked and is killed on the cross. And in Matthew 28, Jesus raises from the dead!

Our passage tonight picks up after the resurrection. We know from Acts 1 that Jesus is on earth for 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension.

And what we are going to look at today is the VERY LAST THING THAT JESUS EVER SAYS ON EARTH!

Matthew 28:16-17

Matthew 28:16–17 CSB

16 The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted.

Jesus has spoken to the disciples and Jesus told them to go to Galilee. Galilee is a hilly, mountainous region of Israel. It’s also where Jesus spent MUCH of His ministry.

He tells the disciples to meet Him there- remember, there’s only 11 because Judas hung himself- something that we see in Matthew 27.

And so the disciples come to Jesus in obedience. We probably expect to see them all walking in perfect faith!

After all, they’ve known Jesus for three years. They’ve literally walked in HIS FOOTSTEPS FOR THREE YEARS!

That was the practice of jewish rabbis and their disciples. They would literally walk in straight lines so that they could “WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THEIR TEACHER.”

Like, these guys KNOW JESUS! They know all about Jesus! They’ve seen the miracles, they’ve seen the healings, the feeding of the 5,000; they’ve even seen the resurrected CHRIST AT THIS POINT!

But what happens when they arrive? There’s two responses!

Some WORSHIP and SOME DOUBT!

Let’s talk about this tonight.

The disciples see their risen savior and they WORSHIP HIM! THEY ARE EXCITED TO SEE HIM, THEY ARE EXCITED TO BE WITH HIM, THEY WORSHIP HIM! THEY GIVE PRAISE AND GLORY AND HONOR TO JESUS JUST AS HE DESERVES!

But yet some don’t.

Even as the disciples worship, some of them are doubting what is going on.

Let me be clear on something- Matthew uses an ACTIVE VERB for doubt. In other words, Matthew doesn’t say, “Some of the disciples were misled into doubt.” Matthew is saying, “Hey, some of the disciples-potentially even Matthew- were honestly really unsure of what was going on!”

They doubted! They actively were questioning Jesus and everything going on in their hearts!

Doubt isn’t a passive thing. Doubt grows in our hearts actively and I’m going to tell you when we grow in doubt- we grow in doubt when we are not connected in with GOD!

We may doubt in a hard season, or when we are busy. We may doubt in college, we may doubt in our young adult years, we may doubt RIGHT NOW!

But hear me on this- it doesn’t “just happen.” Doubt happens BECAUSE we are not plugged into GOD like we need to be!

Rather than being plugged into God, we are trying to walk through life on our own strength, ON OUR OWN!

And let me level with you- your own strength isn’t enough. (Insert illustration)

What we need is to WALK IN FAITH, TRUSTING GOD AND LEANING INTO GOD RATHER THAN OUR OWN STRENGTH!

Can I just talk to you heart to heart tonight. We all doubt. We all go through this. I’ve been there. I’ve doubted. And tonight you might be here and you might be doubting.

You may be here unsure of Jesus. Maybe you know Jesus but you are wondering where He is in your life. Maybe you don’t know if you really believe in Jesus, or maybe you don’t know anything about Jesus!

But guess what- God has brought you here tonight for a specific reason.

It is no accident that you are here tonight. It is no accident that ANY OF US ARE HERE TONIGHT!

God has brought us here. No matter where you are with God- and only you know- I want you to hear this- GOD HAS YOU HERE FOR A SPECIFIC REASON!

And that isn’t just for the youth in the room- this is for the adults too! There’s a reason that God has us here tonight!

So before we go any further, can I just be really clear on something- you are here for a REASON!

Let’s see what Jesus said to HIS DISCIPLES!

Matthew 28:18

Matthew 28:18 CSB

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

Jesus came to the disciples as they worship him and Jesus begins to speak to them.

First, Jesus, who is FULLY GOD NAD FULLY MAN; JESUS WHO DIED FOR THEIR SINS, JESUS WHO DIED FOR OUR SINS, tells these disciples that ALL AUTHORITY has been given to Jesus; in heaven and earth.

Let me be clear- this word for All is PANTA. Panta is used over 1200 times in the New Testament. It means ALL, EVERY, EVERY KIND OF!

Make no mistake- Jesus says this purposefully. Jesus isn’t saying- “I have some authority, or certain types of authority” and Jesus also isn’t EXAGGERATING THE POWER THAT HE HAS!

Jesus is saying that ALL AUTHORITY IS HIS! ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH IS JESUS’S!

That’s really important- In every place Jesus has ALL AUTHORITY! There’s no place that we could ever find ourselves where Jesus does not have full authority!

Everywhere that we have ever gone, will ever go, or ever could go is a place where JESUS HAS FULL AUTHORITY!

With Jesus’s proclamation of how He has ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH, Jesus is going to then give 5 commands to his disciples.

At Cornerstone, which is the church that I pastor, we read Matthew 28:19-20 each week as we end our services.

This is the MOST IMPORTANT MISSION THAT HAS EVER BEEN GIVEN IN HUMAN HISTORY!

It is SO IMPORTANT FOR US ON A DAILY BASIS. Like literally, this is the most important thing that you can do.

This is the mission, the cause that GOD HAS GIVEN TO US!

This is the cause that our creator has given us to do!

We’ll do a lot of different things in life, but no matter our age, or our job, or anything else, we HAVE TO DO THE 5 things that JESUS IS GOING TO TELL US IN MATTHEW 28:19-20! Let me read these verses for us.

Matthew 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 CSB

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 everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

There’s 5 commands that Jesus gives to His disciples before He ascends to heaven.

Did you pick up on them?

They are to:

Go!

Make Disciples!

Baptize Them!

Teach them EVERYTHING that Jesus commanded them!

Remember that Jesus is with them ALWAYS! (Until He returns!)

Here’s what I want to do. I want to talk about each one of these five commands for a minute.

First, Jesus tells the disciples to Go!

Now, sometimes when we hear go, we think, “Ok, where? Do I need to get on a plane for this?”

And here’s the awesome thing- YOU DON’T! Let me explain- Jesus’s command to Go could also be translated as “As you go!”

So when Jesus tells His disciples to GO, he is not saying, “Jerusalem doesn’t need to hear about me.” Instead, he’s saying, “EVERY SINGLE DAY, EVERYWHERE THAT YOU GO, YOU NEED TO BE ON MISSION!”

The next four commands that Jesus gives in Matthew 28:19-20 are things that we need to do no matter where we go.

When you’re at school, you need to BE ON MISSION!

When you’re at home or in your neighborhood, you need to BE ON MISSION!

When you go to work- now, or in the future, you need to BE ON MISSION!

Someday when you move to Champaign for College and we hang out more, YOU NEED TO BE ON MISSION!

Every day, every place, we each need to be on mission.

And listen, this applies to all of us!

I need to be on mission everywhere that I go!

For instance, last Friday I was at the bank doing something. I needed to be on mission! And guess what God did? GOD OPENED THE DOOR FOR AN INTENTIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT THE GOSPEL!

Guys, it starts with us being ON MISSION EVERYWHERE THAT WE GO!

And here’s the thing- there’s no days off from this.

I was walking through Costco with my wife in July right after camp. And as we walked through Costco, my wife was just struggling a bit.

I asked what was going on.

Do you know what she said? She looked at me and said, “Daniel, all these people need Jesus! It breaks my heart!”

And man, it’s true! The people all around us NEED JESUS! AND WE NEED TO BE ON MISSION TO BRING THEM JESUS!

So, we need to first GO!

Make Disciples

Making disciples is one of the most important things that we can do. But let’s start by defining disciple.

A disciple was someone who FOLLOWED THEIR TEACHER. They literally would walk where their teacher walked, they did what their teacher did. THEY WERE FOLLOWERS!

So we know what a disciple is in general, but what about a Christian disciple?

A Christian disciple is someone who FOLLOWS JESUS AND OBEYS JESUS! They seek to LIVE AS JESUS LIVED!

We could say it like this- Disciples ACTIVELY LIVE OUT THEIR FAITH IN JESUS

So when we see that we are to make disciples, we are to help others be followers of Jesus who actively live out their faith!

Jesus calls us to do that! But that’s not all Jesus says- we are to make disciples AS WE GO and we are to make disciples of ALL NATIONS!

Let’s talk about this- Jesus tells the disciples to make disciples of ALL NATIONS- or in other words of all backgrounds.

No matter what someone talks like, acts like, looks like, where someone is from; we are to do something- we are to MAKE DISCIPLES!

We are to share the GOSPEL WITH THEM AND WE ARE TO HELP THEM FOLLOW JESUS!

And we are to do that WITH EVERYONE!

THE MOST POPULAR PERSON, the least popular person, the NICEST PERSON, the meanest person, YOUR BEST FRIEND, your mortal enemy! WE ARE TO MAKE DISCIPLES! That’s OUR JOB AS CHRISTIANS!

We are called to make DISCIPLES!

Where? WHEREVER WE GO! And of who? ANYONE AND EVERYONE!

We are called to a life of MAKING DISCIPLES!

Baptize Them

This is the third instruction that Jesus gives to His disciples.

It’s pretty straightforward- when someone gets saved, we are to baptize them!

Baptism doesn’t save them, but baptism IS a public declaration of their faith in Jesus!

So, we are to share the gospel with people and WHEN THEY GET SAVED, we are to disciple them and that includes baptizing them!

Baptism comes from the word BAPTIZO and it literally means “immersed.” We lower people into water, and then raise them up, mirroring how JESUS WAS BURIED INTO THE TOMB AND HOW HE ROSE AGAIN!

BAPTISM IS A BEAUTIFUL REFLECTION OF WHAT JESUS DID FOR US!

Teach them to Observe everything Jesus Commanded

The fourth instruction that Jesus gives us is to TEACH THEM TO OBSERVE EVERYTHING THAT JESUS HAS COMMANDED!

Let me say this as simply, clearly and directly as I can- when you are discipling someone, GET THEM INTO GOD’S WORD!

Adults, students, everyone, hear this!

WHEN WE ARE MAKING DISCIPLES, WE HAVE TO GET THEM INTO THE BIBLE!

Let me tell you what I do first when I start discipling someone- WE LOOK AT HOW TO READ THE BIBLE!

We literally study READING THE BIBLE

Because that is how they will LEARN WHAT JESUS HAS COMMANDED!

The first challenge I give someone when we are meeting up is to read the Bible 4 times that next week. And then, do you know what we talk about the next week?

WE TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY READ! I READ IT WITH THEM, WE TALK ABOUT IT, WE LOOK AT IT TOGETHER!

We LOOK AT WHAT JESUS HAS COMMANDED!

I don’t think I’ve told you guys about my friend Cody. Cody and I met up for almost 2 years while I was in college. And guys, do you know what we did for 2 years?

WE LOOKED AT WHAT JESUS COMMANDED US TO DO!

We studied God’s WORD, WE APPLIED GOD’S WORD, we LEARNED GOD’S WORD!

That’s what we did!

Every Friday in the Student Union. WE STUDIED GOD’S WORD!

Or like my friend Devan.

When I met Devan, Devan didn’t know anything about God! He had never been to Church.

The first time we read the Bible together, he didn’t know ANYTHING ABOUT THE BIBLE!

But guess what we still did?

WE READ GOD’S WORD! WE LOOKED AT JESUS’S LIFE IN JOHN!

And week by week for about 7 months we did this! We talked about questions, we read it together, we studied it!

And do you know what happened one SATURDAY night at a conference?

DEVAN GOT SAVED!

And then do you know what we did that night and the next morning?

WE READ GOD’S WORD! Guys, this MAY BE THE EASIEST STEP for you to do!

Because all you have to do is be willing to read the Bible together!

And even better news team! We are to teach them EVERYTHING that Jesus commanded.

I mentioned that word Panta earlier- it means EVERYTHING, ALL THINGS, EVERY KIND OF SOMETHING!

We are to teach people to observe, or to LIVE OUT- PANTA that Jesus commanded.

Literally everything! So here’s what that means; THERE’S NO WRONG PLACE TO START!

We just need to get people into God’s Word!

And you can do that tonight! You can do that tomorrow! You can do that Monday! You can DISCIPLE PEOPLE AROUND YOU BY GETTING IN GOD’S WORD TOGETHER!

Remember that Jesus is with them Always!

This is the final instruction that Jesus gives and if I’m honest, it’s kind of easy to overlook this one.

It feels almost stationary- like “Yeah, ok, I can remember that.”

But I dont’ know if we realize the GRAVITY of what this means.

When I went ot college, I was filled with fear and doubt. In total honesty, I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know about any churches.

My first day there I met a guy named Jake who invited me to a spaghetti dinner.

And honestly, I wasn’t feeling it. But my Mom told me to think about it. Then, the next day I saw signs for the SAME SPAGHETTI DINNER!

I decided that anything was better than the dorm food, so I went.

And when I was there I met a guy named Alex. Alex invited me to hang out the next night, so I did! That next night we got some frozen yogurt and then Alex invited me to church.

I didn’t know where to go for Church and Alex promised me breakfast AND lunch, so I figured I’d go with him.

Remember- I’m still filled with fear! I’m still unsure. I knew this guy was a christian, but I didn’t know any other Christian’s on my floor- there were only about 3-5 of us amongst the 70+ people on that floor!

And one thing led to another and GOD WAS WITH ME DURING THAT TIME!

Alex and I became close friends who’d hang out almost every day and at random times throughout the night and for my sophomore year I ended up living with another student who had started discipling me!

But my story about JESUS BEING WITH ME DOESN’T END THERE!

See, God didn’t just give me guys who cared, God gave me opportunities to LIVE OUT HIS COMMANDS! Because my story of God meeting me in my dear and doubt doesn’t end with getting disciples.

Instead, it came full circle when I was leading my own group of guys and when I got to be the guy taking freshmen to lunch and meeting up with them at all hours of the night to pray with them and disciple them.

And that story still isn’t done, because now that’s what I get to do for work! It’s what my wife and I get to do! We get to pour into college kids just as we were poured into!

Guys, JESUS IS WITH US ALWAYS! JESUS KNOWS WHAT WE NEED BEFORE WE EVER DO!

I didn’t know that I needed a guy like Alex and I didn’t know that I’d end up leading a Bible Study and getting to pour into guys like Cody and Devan and so many others!

Like at one point my senior year I looked at my schedule for the week and I had 10 guys I was meeting up with to disciple! I say that not in pride, but because every one of those conversations was a reminder that JESUS HAD BEEN WITH ME and that JESUS WAS STILL WITH ME!

Because if JESUS HADN’T BEEN WITH ME, I NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THAT SPOT!

So team, hear me on this- YOU WILL NEVER OUT RUN JESUS, YOU WILL NEVER OUT DECISION JESUS, JESUS WILL NEVER BE ABSENT BECAUSE YOU LET HIM DOWN!

Instead, JESUS WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU! EVERY SINGLE DAY, JESUS WILL BE WITH YOU!

Application

Go- will you GO WITH ME? Will you go with your leaders? We want to GO WITH YOU! We want to live this out every day. Will you join us in this? (And don’t delay! If someone’s on your mind, I want to challenge you to GO tonight with a phone call, tomorrow, Sunday, or Monday! MAKE THIS AN URGENT PRIORITY BECAUSE IT IS!)

Make Disciples

Baptize Them

Teach Them Everything Jesus Commanded (Share the GOSPEL in this point and call for response!)

Remember that Jesus is with you (What makes you question that? Write it on a piece of paper to throw it into the fire?)