The Mission

Welcome back to our latest series, “The Aftermath”, where we have been studying the events following the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we learned was that the disciples were a trainwreck after the Lord’s death. You see, they didn’t understand what Jesus’ mission was on the first go around. In other words, they didn’t understand that the Messiah needed to die to take away the sins of the world, before He brought in His eternal kingdom. To keep it simple, the disciples were expecting Jesus to establish His kingdom in their lifetimes.

So when they headed to Jerusalem for that final passover, they were expecting a throne not a cross. They were expecting that Jesus was going to rule the world from the throne of David, but was they witnessed was Jesus dying a death reserved for the worst criminals.

And when Jesus died, these men’s faith was shattered. Everything they thought they knew about the Messiah collapsed in a single weekend. Their hopes weren’t just shaken — they were crushed. The One they believed would sit on David’s throne was hung on a Roman cross. The One they expected to conquer Rome was instead killed by Rome. The One they thought would bring in the kingdom was buried in a borrowed tomb.

So what did the disciples do? They ran. They hid. They locked the doors. They doubted that Jesus was the Messiah. They didn’t believe the eyewitness accounts that Jesus was alive. And they ignored Jesus’ orders to meet Him in Galilee.

I guess you might say the disciples hit rock bottom. And one of the clear lessons that I’ve taken away from this study is that bad theology gets bad results. Let me say that again and put it on a slide.

You see, the disciples didn’t understand the OT prophecies that the Messiah was going to suffer first before He entered into HIs glory. And this is exactly what Jesus tells His disciples when he appears to them.

Let’s read a few verses from Luke chapter 24.

Luke 24:44 NKJV

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

Jesus is making a pretty simple point to this disciples here. He’s is basically saying, “guys I told you multiple times that I was going to suffer, die, and on the third day be raised again. Jesus says, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you”. But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He also says, “these things were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me”. In other words, Jesus was saying, “guys everything that happened to me was written beforehand in your Bibles.” You had the word of God telling you what was going to happen in advance. It was all written down in black and white.

And listen to this next verse.

Luke 24:45 NKJV

45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

If you have been studying with us for any length of time, you know that I always pray and ask God to help us understand the Scriptures before we study together. Let me give you a quick side note here. In seminary, in my second year Greek class, I had a professor include this verse in the course syllabus. And his point for including the verse was this. You can be able to read the Bible in its original languages, and you can have a flawless technique for studying the Bible, and follow all the rules of interpretation perfectly, but if your not humbly coming before the Lord and asking Him to open the Scriptures to you, you will get it wrong.

You see, our flesh always wants to depend on itself, and if we are not careful we can start depending on ourselves to understand the Bible. And many highly educated scholars make this mistake. They depend on their knowledge, their education, their technique, and they stop depending on the Holy Spirit to teach them. Church, we can never let this happen. Yes, we want to study. Yes, we want education. Yes, we want good solid techniques for studying the scriptures, but no matter how much we learn, we must always depend upon God to open our understanding so that we can comprehend the Scriptures.

That is what Jesus had to do to get His disciples back on track. He had to open their understanding so that they could understand the Scriptures. He had to fill in the gaps in their theology. And this is what all of us need Jesus to do to keep us on track. Which brings us back to my earlier point.

Ok, let me get off this rabbit trail and steer us back on track. So, the first thing Jesus does is restore the disciples faith by straightening out their theology. And last week, we watched Jesus recommission His disciples to ministry by the sea of Galilee. So, not only does Jesus restore his disciples, He also recommissions them into service, and today we are going to see Jesus give His disciples their marching orders. In other words, we are going to see Jesus give the disciples His mission statement.

So, what exactly is a mission statement?

A mission statement is a clear, simple declaration of why we exist and what we are supposed to do. It answers one major question:

1. Why do we exist?

2. What is our purpose?

So, in our lesson this morning, I want us to do two things. First, I want us to study the mission statement that Jesus gave His disciples. And second, I want us to talk about the mission statement we have here at Legacy Baptist Church. But before we go any further, let me give you a little hint: both mission statements we’re going to look at this morning have everything to do with making disciples.

Church, Jesus’ mission statement to His disciples was simple and clear: It was to make disciples of all the nations. And I am convinced this mission statement wasn’t just for the original eleven disciples. No I believe this mission statement is for every disciple throughout this current age. It is for every believer in every generation — including us.

And that means what we’re about to study this morning is critically important, because church, it tells us why we exist. It tells us what our purpose is. It tells us what Jesus expects from His people. It tells us what Legacy Baptist Church is supposed to be doing until the day Jesus returns.

So, quite literally this morning we are going to find out what our mission is, and once we know exactly what our mission is, we can get busy actually doing it. Because Church, we need a clear objective as a body of believers so that we stay on task. You see, we need a main objective that we can all work towards. We need a purpose that unifies us, focuses us, and keeps us from drifting in a bunch of different directions.

Because here is the truth:

A church without a clearly defined mission becomes a church without momentum. As a body of believers we need to be moving together toward a unified goal. And that is what we are going to learn this morning.

So with all of that being said. Let’s get ready to jump into our text for this morning. But before we do let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to open our understanding. Let’s pray.

Ok, as you might have already guessed, the title of today’s lesson is...

The Mission

And as I mentioned a moment ago. This is the mission Jesus gives not just the eleven disciples, but this is the mission He gives all of His disciples—including you and me.

Picking up in Matthew 28 verse 16 we read,

Matthew 28:16–17 NKJV

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

This verse teaches us that the Lord designated a mountain as a meeting place. In other words, Jesus told the disciples where they needed to go and He would meet them there. Now as far as I know, we don’t know what mountain this was. And verse 17 says, “when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted”.

Let’s focus in on the last part of verse 17, that says, “but some doubted”. Now, this is an interesting detail because Jesus had already restored the faith of the eleven disciples, but not only that He had already recommissioned His disciples by the sea of Galilee. I mean think back to the encounter with Thomas. Remember, Jesus first appeared to 10 of the 11 disciples and because Thomas wasn’t there he refused to believe. But then Jesus comes back and gives Thomas all the proof He asked for. He says, “Thomas touch the nail prints in my hands, and reach your hand into my side, only Thomas don’t be unbelieving but believing. And when this happens Thomas says, “My Lord and my God”.

Here is where I’m going with all of this. When this verse says, “some doubted”, I don’t think it was talking about any one of the elven disciples. You see, I think there were other disciples present during this meeting. Let’s look at another passage to prove my point. Let’s look at a verse from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let’s pick up at verse 5

1 Corinthians 15:5–6 NKJV

5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

You see, I think this appearance of the Lord is Matthew 28 is the one Paul speaks us in 1 Corinthians. As we have learned, Jesus was seen by Peter, then by the twelve. . And then after Jesus appeared to the original disciples, then He appeared to a greater number of witnesses. That is what verse 6 tells us, “After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once”.

Here is the point. When Jesus appears on that mountain in Galilee, I believe He was appearing to a great number of disciples, over 500 Paul says. But in the larger group of the disciples, doubts remained. Look back at our passage now.

Matthew 28:17 NKJV

17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

In other words, in the larger group of disciples, some weren’t buying the resurrection, just like the disciples didn’t either at first.

And moving on to verse 18,

Matthew 28:18 NKJV

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

The Lord says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. You see, there is no place in the universe where the Lord’s authority does not extend. John the Baptist said, The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand”. Paul says in Philippians that God has highly exalted Him... that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. And the Apostle John in the first chapter of Revelation describes Jesus as the ruler of the kings of the earth. And it is based upon the authority of Christ. It is based upon His authority, it is based on all authority that was given Him, that Jesus sends out us out into the world to make disciples. You see, we are able to carry out our mission because the one who has sent us has all authority in heaven and on earth. Simply put, Jesus empowers us to fulfil the great commission.

And church this is so comforting and encouraging as we serve the Lord. Because believe Me, we are going to have trouble in the life. And we are going to experience roadblocks and opposition as we live for the Lord, but this should never discourage us nor cause us to despair. You know why? Because the King we serve has “All authority in heaven and on the earth”. There is no higher power.

Now, before we move on, I want to examine one other aspect of the Lord’s authority that oftentimes gets over looked. Listen to what Jesus says as He is praying to the Father on the eve of this death. This is oftentimes referred to as Jesus’ high priestly prayer.

John 17:1–2 NKJV

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

Notice Jesus says, “You have given Him authority over all flesh”. What Jesus is saying here is that the Father has given Him authority over all people. And what did this authority allow Jesus to do? Well, let’s read the rest of the verse. “...that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him”. This is such an important verse. This tells us that Jesus Christ has the authority to give eternal life. And who can Jesus give eternal life to? This verse says, “to as many as You have given Him”. Jesus can give eternal life to every person the Father gives Him. Now don’t make this harder than it needs to be. You see, the Father has given Jesus every person that believes in Him. That is what Jesus is saying, “Father, you have given me authority to give eternal life to every person who believes in Me”. Here is the net net.

Jesus has authority to give eternal life to whosoever believes in Him

Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. And Jesus has authority over all flesh. Which means He has the authority to give eternal life to every person who believes in Him for it. And it is based upon this authority that He now commands His followers to go out and make disciples. Which brings us to the focal point of today’s lesson, and Jesus’ Mission Statement.

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Now, I’m going to try not to get too technical here, but I need you to understand this. In the original language there is only one command in these two verses, and that command is “make disciples.” That’s the heartbeat of the Great Commission. That’s the main verb. It is the driving force of everything Jesus is saying.

You see, every other action word in these verses — go, baptizing, and teaching all support the command to make disciples. In fact, these other three words are participles, and participles are verbal adjectives. Simply put, the go, baptizing, and teaching all describe the process of making disciples.

Insert Homemade slide

They are not separate commands. They are not three different missions. All of the other actions of going, baptizing, and teaching are simply describing what making disciples looks like.

First, the word “go” told the disciples where the action was supposed to take place. In other words, they would now be making disciples all over the world. And the last two participles baptizing and teaching describe what is involved in the disciple making process. So let’s focus for a second on the baptizing and teaching.

“Baptizing” describes the beginning of the disciple making process.

As soon as a person comes to faith, the first step of discipleship is to be baptized. This is how new disciples publicly identify with Jesus and His church. When might say that Baptism is the starting point of the disciple’s journey.

Then we come to teaching.

“Teaching” describes the ongoing process of disciple making.

Now pay attention here because this is a major point of today’s lesson. Disciples aren’t made in a moment. We are born again in a moment, but discipleship is a journey that lasts our entire lives. You see, disciples continually grow as they are taught the Scriptures and learn how to apply the Word of God to their daily lives. This doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen in a single class or a single sermon. This is a lifelong process of learning, obeying, growing, and being shaped into the likeness of Christ.

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Look back at verse 20 with me. Notice what verse 20 says about the teaching, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”. So, here is a question I want you to answer. How long do you suppose it takes to teach a person “observe all things that Jesus has commanded us”? How long does it take to teach a person the Bible? My answer would be it takes more than a lifetime. In fact, I think we will be studying the Scriptures for all eternity.

So, let me say this one more time for the people on the back row, “making disciples is a life long process”. Let me use my sons as an example since they were just baptized. My boys have come to believe in Jesus for everlasting life. They understand that they are eternally secure with Christ forever. They have just completed their first step on the pathway of discipleship. But they are babes in Christ. They need to be taught, “all the things Christ commands us in the Scriptures”. So, we the church have a responsibility to those children to disciple them. We need to be teaching those boys the Bible to make them more and more like Christ each day. And we the church have that same responsibility to every person who gathers with us. Here is the point. We are committed to teach this flock for a lifetime.

Now, there is a reason I am hammering away on this over and over again. I want us to understand that the Great Commission is about making disciples, and making disciples takes a lifetime. Somehow, over the years, we turned the Great Commission into a passage about evangelism. And I guarantee you, if you walked into almost any church in America and asked people what the Great Commission is, most would say, “It’s about evangelizing the world.”

Which is interesting, because there is nothing in this passage that directly commands evangelism. Now, evangelism is certainly implied — because if we are baptizing people, then obviously someone shared the gospel with them. But Jesus’ focus here is not on the moment of conversion. His focus is on the lifetime process of making disciples. His focus is on what comes after evangelism. This is not a passage about evangelism. It is a passage about discipleship.

Are we supposed to evangelize? Of course. Absolutely. Without question. But here’s the truth: When we create mature, Christlike disciples, they will evangelize the world around them. They will evangelize their children. They will evangelize their co-workers. They will evangelize their friends. Simply put, Christ-like disciples produce godly fruit.

Ok, before we run out of time, I want to talk about our mission statement here at Legacy. But before we do I want to define the word disciple. What is a disciple? Well, I came across a definition in a commentary that I really like.

A disciple is a learner who seeks to become like the one he is following -Tony Evans

This means, that the goal of discipleship, then, is to help people become progressively more like Christ in character, conduct, attitudes, and actions. Simply put, we want to help believers become more Christlike. And the way we help believers become progressively more and more like Christ is to teach them the word of God. So, before we even get to our mission statement let me go ahead and give you the informal version of our mission statement. This version is short and to the point. This is the one I want everybody to memorize.

Informal Mission Statement:

We exist to teach the Bible, so that people become more like Jesus.

And I don’t want to just throw this out there without proving to you that people become more like Jesus by studying the Scriptures. Let me show you one of my favorite Bible verses, which is also the major inspiration for my ministry and our mission statement here at Legacy. It is 2 Corinthians 3:18.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

So, let me take a couple of mins and break this verse down. Paul is speaking of believers in this verse. He says, “but we, with unveiled face”. He is speaking to his believing readers in Corinth , and then he says something strange. He says, we are “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord”. So, the major question we need to answer is, what on earth is the mirror? You see, Paul isn’t speaking literally here. He says we are beholding the glory of the Lord in something that is acting like a mirror. The mirror is a metaphor for something that we are looking into. So, here is the next question. What do believers stare into that shows us the glory of the Lord? Well I will tell you. Paul is talking about the Bible. He is saying, when we stare into God’s word it shows us the glory of the Lord.

Let me say it this way. When we study our Bibles we beholding the glorious image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like a mirror shows us our reflection, the Word of God shows us the reflection of Jesus Christ. Which I think is so awesome, but it just gets better from there. Notice what Paul says is happening to believers as they behold the image of Christ.

He says we “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory”. So the short is that when we stare at Jesus’ image in the Bible we are being transformed. The word of God transforms us as we behold the image of Christ. That is an amazing truth, but here is the most amazing part of that truth. Paul says, we are being transformed into the same image. Now, don’t miss this because this is the best part. You see, not only are we being transformed, but we are being transformed into the same image that we are beholding in the mirror. Simply put, we are being transformed in the the image of Jesus Christ.

Man I hope that got through. When we open our Bibles and behold the image of Jesus, we are being transforming into the image of Jesus. Let me say it this way, studying the Bible makes us more like Jesus. Now I want to look at one more part of this verse, “from glory to glory”. What Paul is teaching us here is that the transformation process is gradual. We are being transformed from one stage of glory to the next. Let me put it this way, from one stage of transformation to the next. Which is exactly what I’ve been saying about discipleship. It is a gradual learning process where we continually become more and more like the one we are following. And all of this is happening by the power of the Holy Spirit as we study the Bible.

Now, let me show you are formal mission statement.

Formal Mission Statement:

Our mission is to help people grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, by being continually transformed into His likeness through the study of the Word of God.

This mission statement is based off 2 Corinthians 3:18. Our mission is to help people grow in Christ by being continually transformed into HIs likeness as they study the word of God. This is why we exist. This is our purpose. We want people to behold the image of Jesus as we teach them the Bible so they are gradually becoming more and more like Christ.

Let’s look at the short version one more time.

Informal Mission Statement:

We exist to teach the Bible, so that people become more like Jesus.

Legacy, this is the ongoing process involved in disciple making. We are teaching believers to obey all that Christ has commanded us. Our mission is to make disciples and making disciples means devoting ourselves to teaching people the Bible over the course of their lives.

Church, as we wrap this up today, I want us to bring our hearts back to where Jesus brings His disciples — the Great Commission. After the resurrection, after restoring them, after opening their understanding, Jesus gives them one clear mission: make disciples. That was the mission on that mountain in Galilee, and that is still the mission for His church today.

And church, this is where Legacy’s mission statement fits hand‑in‑glove with the words of Jesus. Because what is the Great Commission? It is the lifelong work of helping people grow in Christ. It is teaching them the Scriptures. It is walking with them as they learn to obey everything Jesus commanded. It is watching the Holy Spirit transform them “from glory to glory” as they behold the image of Christ in the Word of God.

That is exactly why we exist. That is exactly what we are committed to. That is exactly what Jesus has called us to do.

We exist to teach the Bible, so that people become more like Jesus.

And church, that is simply another way of saying:

We exist to fulfill the Great Commission.

So as we leave here today, let’s remember this: We are not a church chasing programs. We are not a church chasing trends. We are not a church chasing numbers. We are a church chasing Christlikeness — in ourselves, in our families, and in every person God brings through these doors. And we do that by teaching the Bible.

And we know we can complete our mission because of Christ promise in Matthew 28.

Matthew 28:20 NKJV

20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Jesus says, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. And He is with each one of us to empower us to accomplish His mission.

Let’s pray.