His Authority, Our Mission

Simply Good News

If your at all like me I wonder if this idea of making disciples seems a little on the edge of being intrusive to someone? I mean we live in Hudsonville where they say there is a church on every corner. There is a chance that many of us hang around with good people while at work or at school or socially. I think there also is a chance that if we are hanging around with good people that we are not asking the question about their relationship with Jesus or lack there-of. If no one had ever shared the gospel with you, where would you be today—and who might be waiting for you to share it with them?

Have we become so comfortable around good people that we've stopped wondering whether they know Jesus?

Are we more concerned about being perceived as intrusive, or about people hearing the good news that changed our lives?

So, if either of these questions are somewhat true then perhaps there is a chance that when you hear the great commission passage or if you read it yourself that you first don’t know exactly what to do with it and second that maybe it doesn’t apply to you or me.

This morning we are going to look at this passage perhaps in a little different way. If you grab a sermon note sheet you saw that I put 5 points on the sheet. I was able to trim down the content to just under 90 minutes so its not as bad as you might think.

We are going to look this morning and ask the Who, What, Where, When and How of when Jesus spoke these words some 2000 years ago and also how those words are actually given to us today.

When Jesus says, "Go and make disciples," do we see that as a command for someone else, or an invitation for us personally?

Prayer

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Who

🕵️ Who

The Speaker: Jesus Christ.

John 1:1–5 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 1:10–14 “10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The Recipients: The eleven remaining apostles.

Matthew 28:16 “16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.”

The Targets: All nations and future believers.

This is not a command that is just for the 11 disciples on that mountain with Jesus. It was a command to everyone from that period going forward. For all the people we read about in scripture, for all of our ancestors, for us here today and for everyone else to come after us. Jesus says to the very end of the age. The end has not come yet and so we are all included in this command.

Jesus doesn’t put any restrictions on it. He doesn’t say the Jews or the Gentiles, he doesn’t say that you have to be a certain age, have a certain educational back ground, he doesn’t say its a man’s job or its a woman’s job.

2 simple words - Therefore Go

We will come back to these words shortly, right now we are focusing on the who.

The next question is What.

What

What is Jesus talking about in this passage.

📋 What

The Core Command: Make disciples of all nations.

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary XIV. Resurrection and Great Commission (28:1–20)

This is a command, not a suggestion or request. A disciple is a learner who seeks to become like the one whom he is following. The goal of discipleship, then, is to help people become progressively like Christ in character and conduct, in attitudes and actions.

If we agree that in order for us to be a disciple of Jesus then we are going to need to know a little about Jesus. If we are going to know about Jesus then most likely someone is going to have to tell us about Him.

Then is we are going to live up to the command to make disciples we need to know about Jesus and we need to tell others about Jesus.

The First Action: Go.

In order to make disciples we must go.

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary XIV. Resurrection and Great Commission (28:1–20)

To make disciples, then, you must go: leave your holy huddle, take your witness with you into the world, and share the gospel.

The Greek sense of the word go is to move away from one place into another direction.

We don’t have to go far but we have to go. Whether its going across the room to someone or going across the world its still going.

Jesus even had to go when we read the first verse of our passage this morning where Matthew says the Jesus came to them. He went in a physical act. The sense of the word came in the Greek, like the word go involves a movement. Jesus moved towards them.

The Second Action: Baptize them.

The Alliance of Reformed Churches uses a liturgy for baptism that begins with the Great Commission passage. Listen closely to the words of the liturgy and try to hear what Jesus is telling us in the Great Commission and how it all fits together with our mission.

Baptism is the sign and seal of God’s promises to his covenant people.

In baptism God promises by grace: to forgive our sins; to adopt us into the Body of Christ, the Church; to send the Holy Spirit daily to renew and cleanse us; and to resurrect us to eternal life.

This promise is made visible in the water of baptism.

Water cleanses; purifies; refreshes; sustains: Jesus Christ is living water.

Through baptism Christ Jesus calls us to new obedience: to love and trust God completely; to forsake the evil of the world; and to live a new and holy life, by his grace.

Yet, when we fall into sin, we must not despair of God’s mercy, nor should we continue in sin, for baptism is the sign and seal of God’s eternal covenant of grace with us.

Some of the same language is in the liturgy for some making a public profession of faith.

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary XIV. Resurrection and Great Commission (28:1–20)

The presence of the three titles with the singular “name” affirms the Trinity. To be baptized is to commit a covenantal act by which you are publicly identified with the triune God. As sure as wearing a wedding ring identifies you as married, it should be clear to all that you are under Jesus’s authority.

The Third Action: Teach them obedience.

This third action I think is something that never ends. We are always learning are we not? Just like Jesus does not put any restrictions on who should go we also are all continuing to learn.

The Subject Matter: Everything Jesus commanded.

Everything that we read here in scripture is what Jesus taught when he walked this earth. We are told to go and if we don’t go then who will.

In Acts and the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch we see this exact thing. We see an angel telling Philip to go. We see Philip obeying the command to go and we see him teaching the Ethiopian eunuch about what he was reading. The Ethiopian even asks how am I suppose to know what I am reading unless someone explains it to me. Finally we see Philip baptizing the Ethiopian before he is taken away.

The next two questions, the where and when is how we are going to make up some time.

Where

📍 Where

The Region: Galilee, northern Israel.

The Specific Site: A designated mountain.

The where is the passage is pretty cut and dry. Its the question of where for us today that we need to explore.

The Scope: All nations worldwide.

Like the question of who and we said all nations as people the same is true to the where. All nations, everywhere. Sure this morning we commissioned a team of people to go to the Dominican Republic and we commissioned Brook to go with a team of people to Kenya but not everyone is called to that distance.

We have opportunities right here at the corner of 48th and Port Sheldon. We have had opportunities to share Jesus with people that come to our Big Days, or our VBS, our movie nights and yes even those who come to a worship service perhaps for the first time.

The idea that you have to travel a certain distance in order to share the good news and build disciples is false. Yes, you have to go but just go across the room to someone you don’t know and be a person of peace to them.

When

⏰ When

The Era: Post-resurrection period.

We are in the post-resurrection period or the “Already but not yet”. Jesus has already overcome sin and death and we are actively waiting for his second coming.

The Moment: Before Jesus ascended to heaven.

The Duration: Lasts until the end of the age.

Just like our learning never ends until the end of our time here on earth we are to continue to share the good news and build disciples, baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit until the end of the age.

Our final question this morning is the how.

How

⚙️ How

The Power Source: The Holy Spirit.

Our power source comes from the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised it to his disciples after his resurrection.

Acts 1:4–5 “4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.””

Paul says that their is fruit in the work of the spirit and it shows in our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The Authority: All authority belongs to Jesus.

Matthew 9:6 “6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.””

Matthew 11:27 “27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Daniel 7:13–14 “13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

You see throughout Jesus’ ministry he had all authority but he chose to contain it if you will. He told his followers that he was doing the will of his father. Now after his death and resurrection we see that he now exercises that authority.

A.T. Robertson says it this way:

“It is the grandest of all spectacles to see the Risen Christ without money or army or state charging this band of five hundred men and women with world conquest and bringing them to believe it possible and to undertake it with serious passion and power. Pentecost is still to come, but dynamic faith rules on this mountain in Galilee.”

The Names Used: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is what we call the Trinity. The God in three persons.

Father as the source of all creation, the giver of life. Paul says

1 Corinthians 8:6 “6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”

Son as the image of the invisible God, the exact representation of His being and nature.

Hebrews 1:1–3 “1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Holy Spirit who is the guide, or is God in action. Through the Holy Spirit God reaches people, influencing them. Teaching us all things, reminding us of everything Jesus has said to us.

The Sustenance: Jesus' continuous, personal presence.

Matthew 1:23 “23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”

The fact that Jesus is here with us today, that Jesus will be with you as you go into mission. Whether it be here in West Michigan, Kenya or the Dominican Republic, Jesus will be with you. That should not be a fact to fear but a fact to welcome. Just as the risen Jesus gave this assurance to the 11 disciples on that mountain he gives us the same assurance.

As I close this morning there is actually one last question to address and I purposely chose to not print it. The question is why.

Why

Like when I was a kid and my parents told me to do something I would sometimes ask why. Often times the response would be simply because I told you to.

I don’t think that I can get away this morning by telling us that we need to do this simply because Jesus said so. If that works for you then great but let me close with this.

I opened this morning with the image of someone having good news to share. We have good news to share but in order for us to know what good news is we need to know what the bad news is.

The bad news is that we are all sinners. Since the fall of man and woman in the Garden of Eden we have a problem and that is we are sinners. We are broken and estranged from a relationship with the creator of the universe, our heavenly Father.

It gets worse in that there is totally nothing we can do to correct that. Oh, we sure try to create ways to fix it. We put things in our lives that make us feel good. We check the boxes all the time in hopes that maybe just one more check mark or one more gold star on our christian good works list will make the difference but it wont.

The good news is that God sent His son Jesus to die on the cross, descend into hell and be raised from the dead victorious over sin and darkness all for you and for me. Jesus paid the penalty with His blood and His blood that covers us completely and restores our relationship with God.

See its because of the Good News of the gospel that are compelled to live out the Great Commission. That is the answer to the final question of why.

Why? Because God first loved us and made a way for us to have a relationship with him and so we love him.

No matter where you are, whether its here locally, its across this country nationally or its over seas globally we are called to make disciples, teach what Jesus commanded and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Don’t stop because we are to do that until the end of the age.

Will you join us in that mission today, are you willing to go? Why, because we sure do have good news to share with the world.

Amen