Matthew 28:18-20 & Acts 1:8
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Be a Light in a Dark World.
Be a Light in a Dark World.
Service date 3.2.2025
Good morning my friends!
I hope you’ve had a good week, the Lord allowed us to enjoy some warmer weather days.
It was glorious…
This morning I want to remind you to continue to pray for Upward over these next few months, the league time is over except for the celebration get together. But for those children and families that heard the Word of God, pray for them to have faith and act on the Lord’s prompting in their hearts.
And while we are talking about praying for children, pray for those 6 children that received Christ this past Sunday at youth. Pray that they will be protected and kept safe from the lies and doubt of the evil one and they will be able to grow in their faith.
Now this morning we are continue to cover some of the basics of our walk with Christ.
We have talked about knowing and doing the will of God in our life, and last week we saw a little of the work of the Holy Spirit.
And without a doubt, the Holy Spirit helps us as we seek to know and do God’s will.
And this morning, we are going to talk about one point of our walk that every child of God is called to participate in while here on planet earth.
You are called to be a witness...
And so this morning as we talk about being a witness, I have entitled this message as being a light in a dark world.
You are called to be a light…
So this morning we are going to look at Matthew chapter 28, and Acts chapter 1 as we look at these topics.
So I with that in mind, I want to share this first point with you
1 The Mandate...
Now without a doubt, the Lord Jesus has commanded us, each of us to be a witness, a light in a dark world.
And already, when we hear that thought, “We are to be a witness...” doubt comes into our minds. We are like Moses.. Lord.. Lord, excuse me I am not able to do this… I am just not equipped for the task.
Fear creeps in, as we wonder how we will be received.
It scares people to talk to others about the Lord, we can talk about other things, things that really have no meaning, but just not Jesus. We wonder will they ridicule me, reject me, will they run me off their door step..
And finally, excuses come to mind.. well, that’s not my job Lord. I am a behind the scenes, serving type of Christian.. I do the best after people come to faith in Christ.
Wait, wait... If you listen really close.. did you hear that… I hear the words no, no, no - to all three of those objections.
Why?
We, as the children of our Lord have a mandate to follow, and it is for each of us.
Lets look at Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We are going to look at this passage today, along with several others. But lets consider this first thought today
You know right here, with this passage we are at the conclusion but also the climax of this gospel.
Jesus is passing the torch to his disciples. And he tells them exactly why He can send them off into the world.
All authority, in heaven and earth has been given to me.
Now this is important. The one who lived, who was put to death on the cross and rose again on the third day.
He has revealed and proven, that He is the Christ, the one who God the Father sent into the world, that He is God himself.
And now Jesus tells them, because of all this, All authority has been given to Him.
The word authority is the Greek word Exousia (Ex O Sia) means privilege, and the right to act, it has been bestowed upon the Son.
And where did that authority come from, well it has come from the Father in heaven.
35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
Now some might ask, didn’t the Son already have authority, In the beginning, up to the time of Jesus coming into the world, we would say yes.
Why? In times before His incarnation into the world, He was with the God and was the God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
But the Son, (after his incarnation) had not been given full authority yet, but we find it here that Jesus says that all authority has been given to Him.
This authority allows Jesus to send His disciples, now Apostles, out into the world in His name. it is the privilege of being able to issue those men marching orders.
It is that authority and later the power they will receive when the Holy Spirit comes into the world, remember Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,”
This authority and the soon coming power will give them all they need to carry out the work Jesus is sending them to do.
So what is the mandate?
It was a kingdom mandate, to make more disciples, to take the gospel to others.
Those men were called to go…- to go where? They were called to go to the World.
Look back at the passage.… Matt 28:19
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,
They were to go and make disciples of all nations. The phrase “all nations.” is special. “Ta ethos”It means all people groups.
They were to go and make disciples of all nations.
So what does that mean? Well the term “disciple” refers to one who is follower of Jesus Christ.
Someone has said a disciple is “A Disciple
– someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus
I think that is a pretty inclusive definition. I like it because it says clearly, you have been changed by Jesus, meaning you have had a salvation, redemptive event where by you confessed and repented of your sin and called for Jesus to save and change your life, inviting him into your life.
That person then follows and is committed to Jesus mission.
Those are good points..
Let me ask you a question… does that definition of what a disciple is, is that reflected in your life?
We are called to be His disciple, and that means we have to be all in.. If we are not committed to Jesus, fully committed something is wrong..
Because that mandate involves you. It must be a part of who you are as well.
Jesus called them to go and He is calling us as well to fulfill His mandate.
Now lets move on....
Secondly today, What is the message we are called to share?
2. The Message...
The message today is two fold, and perhaps this is not something we consider all the time.
The first part is the message that Jesus communicated, and commissioned these first disciples to do, which is also our Mandate as well.
So lets consider what they heard that day..
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.”
And likewise, Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In these two verses we can see the depth and direction of the message those disciples were to carry..
The message was to go and make disciples, to reproduce themselves in the lives of others, making other followers of Jesus.
So they could in turn go and do the very same thing, helping make other disciples, those who are a fully committed follower of Jesus.
And Acts tells us the specific direction they were to go… Start at home with Jerusalem. Then go those areas immediately around them, Judea and then Samaria.. and finally to every village and home around this world that all might hear.
For us, our directions is Big Stone Gap, then our areas like Southwest Va and North East Tn. Moving from there to all the regional areas around that.. till we are helping carrying the message across this land and around the world.
And what is the message.. Jesus said teaching them all that I have commanded you. Well, that message has to begin with the Gospel.
The message is Jesus saves and we humanity need saving. We need saving because we entered this world with a terrible plight, a disease called sin. We are all sinners… Romans 3:23.
And sin leads to death. Romans 6:23.
But there is hope, the free gift of God. The gift of God leads to salvation to all who would call upon the name of the Lord.
Jesus saves...it is the truth of the gospel.
I think it is really best summed up in Romans 10:9-10
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
This is the point we are all called to agree upon today.
Jesus will save all who call upon is name, having accepted Jesus as Lord and believing.. Remember the word of John 1:12...
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
This is the most wonderful news, as the Old preachers used to say, Jesus saves from the Uttermost to the Gutter most… The gospel is no respecters of people, tells everyone you need Jesus… He will save all who come to Him.
Aren’t you glad Jesus saved you? I know you are!
It all came about because there were those who came, who served, who preached, who told you about Jesus and you believed.
You believed.
And from there, from Salvation.. We teach all that Jesus told us too.. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you...
We are called to teach people about prayer, about eternal security, about love, the greatest commandment and so forth..
And the last is to baptise them, to take them under the water as Jesus has commanded us. Demonstrating in their life that Jesus has done in their heart!
We are buried with Christ in baptism rising to walk in newness of life…
In coming to faith in Jesus the old man is put to death, and just as Jesus died and was buried, He arose and so we rise as a new believer in Christ
We want everyone to hear the message so God can work in their life..
Our job is taking the message so they might hear and have the opportunity to become a follower of Jesus. And then grow in the Lord.
That is our job and our life is not complete unless we are doing that thing...
Here is a question...Are you willing to take the gospel, you see your mission is not in Africia, it is not some former Soviet block country, it begins right off your door step and goes outward little by little to the world.
Is Jesus worth you taking HIs message to those outside of your homes.
Now just one last thought today..
3. You Are Never Alone...
I realize for many of us, all that we have talked about takes us out of our comfort zones...
I know we are most comfortable keeping to our-self, minding our own business, etc..
But we cannot do that...
There is a light in each of us that must be shared while there is still time.. Listen to Matt 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
You are the light of the world. You have the kingdom of God living inside of you, you are a living testimony for the world to see..
Dear friends, the world is lost in darkness and we have the greatest gift for them, light.
And your light is meant to be shared, Jesus says plainly, no one lights a lamp and then hides it..
No...you set it out for all to see and enjoy its light.
The world is hurting, they are suffering, like people going around in darkness unable to find their way.
They try a lot of things, but they accomplish nothing...
But when we share the light with them, suddenly they are able to see, they see that is good and right and hopefully they will allow the light to come into their life and home.
But hear what Jesus says at the end of verse 20..
Verse 20b“....And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus concludes with the most important words for these men and truly for us as well. I am with you forever.
The fulfillment of that promise is Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came into the world that day the disciples and others where in the upper room waiting and praying together and suddenly the Holy Spirit entered light a mighty rushing wind.
And so God is with us by and through His Holy Spirit. Remember who He is, He is the third person of the Holy Trinity.
But what does all this mean for you..
It simply reminds us that we are never alone. As a child of God, living and witnessing in this world, He is with us.
That is the message of the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 1:23
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Who is with us, God is...
My friends, today as we prepare to close this message, You, me are called to be a light and a witness.
Sharing the glorious message that Jesus saves and telling the world what Jesus has done for you.
I was lost but now I’m found..and it is all because of Jesus.
Are you committed to following Jesus and even being His witness in this world.
Our time is running out, Jesus is coming soon and there are many around us who are not ready.
Will you carry your light today?
Will you be a witness today?
Lets pray...
