What Do We Do?

Good morning, it’s great to be back and this morning we are going to be diving into a pretty familiar passage, Matthew 28:18-20. We are going to be spending a few minutes there this morning because I think that it is so important for us to realize that there is more to the Christian life than just getting saved. Don’t get me wrong, that is so critically important. I would never minimize the importance of salvation, in fact, I can’t even put into words just how important salvation is. I can’t put into words just how great of a gift salvation is. But the Christian life is more than salvation. We are not saved by our works but we are saved for works and the works of a Christian, the missions that we do, the life that we live can only be empowered by one source and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28, we see that Jesus Christ reigns over all things. We mentioned this when we read Colossians 1. Christ’s sovereignty, His reigning over all things and the sending of the Holy Spirit into our lives is what propels us to do the work that Christians are called to do. You were not saved to sit on the bench. You were not saved to enjoy the gifts of Christ while watching every one else carry the load. No, you play a part in this and I think that one of the hinderances of so many Christian camps is that they don’t make you realize that. They want to get you to salvation, and again, that is so crucial but very rarely do I see camps tell you how you should prepare for when you get back home. I don’t know what it is that you are going home to. I’ve known many students in my years of youth ministry where they didn’t want to go home. Not because they were having so much fun that they hated to leave but because they were going back to situations that weren’t good. I don’t know what you are going home to but what I do know is that whatever it is that you are returning to, you can go back with the risen Christ. That you can go back knowing that you have purpose and that you are not just one in a long line of workers, but you are a beloved part of the Body of Christ and you have work, a blessed work to do now. How do we know that we can do it? How do we know that Christ can and will make a difference in our lives and in the world around us? That’s what we are going to find out this morning so turn in your Bibles to Matthew 28:18-20 and let’s pray.

Matthew 28:18–20 NASB95

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

All Authority

The apostles have just been given a humanly impossible task. Christ is risen from the dead and the time is coming when He will depart from the world to return to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. Yet the work of Christ on earth continues and it will continue through the lives and teachings of the apostles. The time will come, and Luke writes about it in Acts 1, where the disciples will go from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth with the message of the Gospel and from a human perspective, this is a daunting and impossible mission. These men are going into a world that is hostile to the Gospel, hostile to God, to bring them back to the God that they hate through a message that they despise and don’t understand. That task with reaching the world for Christ is the same task that is given to us today. I’ve heard it put like this the Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible. How would the apostles do it? How do we as the church do it? Look at what Jesus says in verse 18: ALL authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. What type of authority? All authority. Nothing in heaven above, hell below, or anywhere in all of creation is a rival to Christ’s authority. He has power over all things, He is in control of all things, the sun, moon and stars all submit perfectly to His authority. Every king, every president, every army, every power that has ever been or ever will be will bow to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The reason that we know that the work of the Gospel will not fail and cannot be overcome is because Christ Himself has overcome and Christ Himself is victorious. In the book of Daniel, Daniel receives a vision and he sees the Lord and this is how Christ is described. Daniel 7:14 says, “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” Notice some of those key terms that Daniel writes. Jesus does not possess dominion, glory and a kingdom over one section of the globe. Jesus is not just a king of 1st century Palestine. It all belongs too Him and the extent of His reign and kingdom knows no end. Death and hell are powerless to stop the advancement of His kingdom. What a great reminder for us as we do the work of telling people about Jesus. They have no power over Him and through Him they have no power over us. This is why we can be bold as lions as we tell people about Jesus! James Montgomery Boice said, “His authority is superior to and over all other authorities whether spiritual, demonic, or otherwise. His resurrection proves His authority over any power that can possibly be imagined. Consequently, we do not fear Satan or anyone else while we are engaged in Jesus’ service.” This means that everything that happens in our lives only happens because God in His infinite wisdom has allowed it to happen. Everything good or bad that God allows to take place will ultimately only end up serving His purposes and being for our good. Look at it in this way, in your work for the Lord, the worst thing that someone can do for you is kill you and then the moment that you die, you are off to glory. In some ways, they’re doing you a tremendous blessing because the moment you depart from this earth, you go to be in the Lord’s presence forever! There’s no better place to be! Christ having authority over all things serves as our reminder that we are immortal until our work for the Gospel is done.

All Nations

Look now quickly at what Jesus calls His people to do. We’ve seen that Jesus is the One that empowers us to work, now what does that work look like? In verses 19-20 we see that the great commission as it is called is not a suggestion, it’s a command. The disciples are to go. Christ’s people are to be a moving and working people. But this work is specific. It can be done anywhere but not everything qualifies it for this work. The apostles were commanded to go and make disciples. They were commanded to not make disciples where it was convenient for them, they were called to make disciples of all the nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Before we go too much further into what the people of God are commanded, I want to take just a minute to talk about what we see in the middle of verse 19, that we are to go to all the nations. If it is God that has authority over the nations, it is God that will change the nations through His people. Do you understand just how great an impact the church has had in the world? Hospitals, orphanages, colleges, and so much more have happened in the world because God has empowered His people to reach the world. The church is the only institute that will live forever and therefore it is fitting that it is the church that is used to changed the nations for all eternity. God has tasked us with reaching the nations. This means that the Gospel is not just the Gospel for the people that look just like you. In the first century, it became clear to the first Jewish Christians that the Gospel wasn’t for the Jews only. God is a God of the nations and His gospel will reach the nations. Even at your age, have you thought about what a life on Gospel mission would look like? Have you thought about going to the nations of the world? And have you thought of what it might look like if you reached them for Christ? If not, would you prayerfully consider what it might look like for you to spend the years that God gives you trying to reach the world for Christ? David Platt writes, “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.”

All That Christ Commanded

The people of God are to go to the nations. They are to go and make disciples, they are to go and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But notice also what Jesus commands us to do in verse 20. The people of God are to be teachers and we are to teach all that Jesus commands us to do. If we are to teach what Christ commands, we need to know what God has said. We need to know the Word of God. Our task as Christians is that no matter where God puts us, that we would be helpful for the spiritual development of someone else. Christians are not only to teach the commands of God, we are to teach how to observe or obey the commands of God. It’s one thing to know what God says and it is another thing to actively live it out. Are you actively living out the Christian faith? Would people be able to see that you are a Christian by the things that you do, the things that you say, the way that you present yourself? To be a Christian is more than to just follow what God says, it is to believe what Christ says and to live out what He has called you to be. People need to know that. People need to know that there is more to salvation than just head knowledge of Christ. R.C. Sproul said, “The great commission calls us to do more than work to convert people. It calls us to teach them, to ground them, to help them grow in conformity to Christ. This is our mission.” So how can we make sure that we do this well? Part of it we will talk about tonight when we look at 1 Peter 3 but what we need to remember is that no matter what we do for the Lord, we can serve Him anywhere. We can go and make disciples anywhere. Whatever it is that you do, do it for the glory of God. If it is the Lord’s will for your life to work at McDonald’s for 60 years and then die in your sleep, cook those Big Mac’s to the glory of God and tell people about Jesus. What you also need to remember is that it is not your job to save people. Your job is to be a faithful witness to what Christ has given to you and trust Him with the results. You do not possess the power to convert someone. Only the Holy Spirit can do that but remember what Jesus said in verse 18, He has all authority. He has the authority to raise someone to spiritual life and He has given us the opportunity to be used in the work of the Gospel. It’s hard work but it is a fulfilling work because it is God’s work and He will see to it that it is accomplished. When you go out today, when you go home tomorrow, you can go knowing that Christ is with you and you have work to do. Let’s close with this great reminder from J.C. Ryle: “Let all true Christians lay hold on these words and keep them in mind. Christ is with us always: Christ is with us wherever we go. He came to be Emmanuel, God with us, when He first came into the world: He declares that He is ever Emmanuel, with us, when He come to the end of His earthly ministry and is about to leave the world. He is with us daily to pardon and forgive, with us daily to sanctify and strengthen, with us daily to defend and keep, with us daily to lead and to guide: with us in sorrow and with us in joy, with us in sickness and with us in health, with us in life and with us in death, with us in time and with us in eternity. What stronger consolation could believers desire than this? Whatever happens, they are never completely friendless and alone: Christ is ever with them.” Let’s pray.