Bigger Conquest.

Peace be with you.

Let’s Pray: Father, may your will be done. Jesus, may your word be proclaimed. Spirit, may your work be accomplished in us we pray. Amen.

I. What’s Next (Literal)?

Jesus finally meets up with his 11 disciples at the place he designated to them to go after he was raise from the dead; and tells them what is next now that He has been raise from the dead:

ALL Authority has been given to Jesus in Heaven and on Earth.

They are to go and make disciples to ALL Nations

Baptize them in the name of the Triune God.

Teach them to observe ALL that Jesus has commanded.

Jesus with be with them ALWAYS, to the end of the age.

II. A Bigger Conquest (Allegorical)

Moses on Mt. Nebo, unable to go into the promise land, commissions Joshua for his conquest of claiming the land.

Deuteronomy 31:23 NASB95

23 Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

Jesus on a mountain in Galilee, now commissions his disciples to a bigger conquest. To Go and make disciples of ALL Nations, but not as one who doesn’t get to go with them, like Moses, but as one who goes before them and promises to prepare a place for the the disciples they make and greet them on the other side.

This conquest is bigger because:

Jesus has ALL Authority in the Cosmos (Heaven and Earth)

It involves ALL the Nations

It isn’t limited to a location or country, but tethers disciples to the divine life of the trinity which has never been allowed before.

equips the disciples with the instructions to life as a disciple by observing all the Jesus commands. This is made possible through the Spirit that will be given that will open up understanding and empower them to observe all Jesus has commanded.

The project isn’t limited to one generation but expands to all generations that will exist until Jesus returns at the end of the age. Jesus will not be absent during this conquest. But will be with them always. The question they might ask while they are on their conquest, “What would Jesus do?” Will be answered because Jesus is with them.

III. Making Disciples (Moral)

The disciples are not the only one tasked with this conquest. All who follow Jesus are called to this mission: To make disciples.

Making Disciples:

Submitting to the Authority of Jesus

Make disciples (not convert)- your work isn’t done just by sharing the gospel but seeing it through to baptism, teaching, and application.

This is not a private venture. It may begin individually but results in community:

Baptism is a sacrament of the church; a sacred moment that signifies the union between Christ and the disciple. It is an initiation into the life of following Christ, observed and celebrated by others who have been made disciples of Christ.

teaching to observe all that Christ has commanded. The church has always been the place where disciples gather to listen again to the word of Jesus which teaches them what to observe in their lives. It is through this community of disciples that we learn and encourage each other to walk in His ways. The church proclaims and teaches the way of Jesus, so that the disciple can hear and follow in the way.

IV. In Christ Alone, but Never Alone in Christ (HOPE).

Jesus ends this commissioning with a promise. That in this task we will never be alone. The task is to make disciples for Jesus alone, but that the disciple and those who are making disciples will never be alone.

This is a promise that isn’t limited to the 11 disciples but extends to every generation through every age until Jesus returns.

Are Jesus’ claims about having ALL authority and to be ALWAYS with us realized in reality? When you study history or look around in our present world does it seem that Jesus has all authority and is always present? If at first glance it doesn’t seem like it, may I call your attention to how Jesus uses his Authority and how he makes his presence felt:

1. ALL Authority:

Jesus’ Authority is absolute and executed in the same way he exercised his authority in his life on earth.

Jesus has authority over evil spirits

To calm storms and raging seas

to cleanse lepers

make blind man see

forgiving sins

raising Lazarus from the tomb

but also:

submitting to evil men’s plots and injustices

being beaten and imprisoned

hanging on a cross

dying at the hands of men

no one took his life, he laid it down

Jesus was given all authority in Heaven and on earth through overcoming evil with good by using what was intended to evil and turning it to good. Jesus’ authority is still present even when the evil intentions of man seems to be winning and ruling. He will demonstrate his authority and he will know it when Good results from the wicked and evil actions of this world. The cross becomes the teacher to help us understand how Jesus executes his authority.

2. ALWAYS Present:

How is Christ’s presence always felt in our lives?

1 John 4:12 NASB95

12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

If there is a time when you do not feel the real presence of Christ in your life, here are some things to consider:

Are you detached from the people who carry the love of Christ- that is his church.

Is the Church committed to loving each member?

The presence of God abides in us through out love for each other. It is the meals we share, the prayers we share, the worship we share in, the life we share that Christ’s presence is realized.

This is why disciples do not go alone to accomplish this conquest. Jesus always sent them two by two. So that his presence will be with them as the two are loving each other.

V. Closing

So here's where we land. Jesus stands on that mountain and gives his disciples a conquest far greater than the one Moses gave Joshua. Moses could only point toward a land he'd never enter. But Jesus doesn't stay behind, and he doesn't just go with us—he goes before us, preparing a place, promising to greet on the other side every disciple we help make along the way. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, and he will be with us always, to the very end of the age.

And when the world makes us doubt that—when it doesn't look like Christ has all authority or that he's present at all—we remember how he actually wields it. The same Lord who calmed storms and raised Lazarus also submitted to the cross, taking what men meant for evil and turning it into good. His authority never slipped; it was never more at work than when it looked most defeated. So go and make disciples—but never alone. Be the church. Baptize, teach, gather, and love one another, because no one has seen God, yet if we love each other, God abides in us. In Christ alone we labor, but never alone in Christ. We already know how this story of conquest ends, so let's go write the story—until the day Jesus returns and we look back to see the glory of God in every chapter of it. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.