Matthew 28 :16-20

Matthew 28:16-20

God expects obedience

What is the command?

What is a disciple?

What is our response?

            I have been talking to John about promoting our D-groups and launching a new wave. For the most part, we are six months into our current groups and we need more. So, when John asked me to fill in for him a few weeks ago, I thought perfect, here is my chance to promote them. As I was thinking about passages, one quickly came to mind. This passage has had a direct impact on my life. I remember very clearly when this passage changed my life. It is funny because I cannot tell you the exact time I became saved, but I know the moment my journey to where I am today began. I realized something that is life changing, and something I should have realized sooner. God expects obedience. Really a deep and profound thought right? But here is the thing, I realized I am supposed to be obedient to His word, and was quickly reminded of this passage, Matthew 28:16-20, the great commission.

Matthew 28:16–20 (NASB95)

16But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

17When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

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

19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

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

            Ok a little bit of my backstory so that everyone is on the same page, Almost two years ago I left Garden City and went to KC to begin seminary, and I am not sure if I was asked because I was not the typical student or if it was a question everyone at seminary gets asked. The very first person I met asked “what led me to seminary.” Simple question right? Apparently not for me. I was asked many times and I was unable to give what I thought was an accurate representation of what God was doing in me, and I am the type of person who obsesses over things like this. Even to the point that after I came back from KC I was reflecting on my time there and still trying to answer this question. Time went on and I had moved on from this and forgotten about it honestly. Last month a few of us went on a mission trip to KC, doing some things for a friend of mine’s church, the church I was a part of during my time in KC. Being there reminded me of my time in KC and of this question. Preparing for this sermon I was reminded that my journey began because we are commanded to make disciples. I will also say that I would not be here without godly men pouring into my life. Go figure, that spending time and serving with godly people helps us grow spiritually. That is why all of us should be seeking discipleship. So, this morning we are going to dive deeper into this passage and look at what Jesus commanded. In doing that, I want to try and answer three questions: What is a disciple, what is the command, and what should be our response.

             First question, what is a disciple? I am the type of person who likes to define terms so that we all start from the same place, and like a lot of terms we use in the church, I feel that disciple is a word we are all familiar with but I am sure there are many in here who are not quite sure what a disciple is. A few years some of our church leaders went through a process of helping our church be more intentional about discipleship. One of the many things they did was define what a disciple does. They came up with “A disciple is someone who learns what Jesus said, lives out what Jesus did, obeys what Jesus commanded, and helps others do the same.” To be a disciple, one must be actively seeking Jesus in all aspects of their lives. But as Christians, we must also invest in others. There are some who are being discipled and ones who are doing the discipling. As I said, discipleship greatly contributed to where I am today, and as a church, we want to be more intentional about discipleship. As Christians we should be investing in one another. If we want the Kingdom of God to grow, we need to act. Discipleship does not have to be complicated.

            Here at FSBC we are being more intentional about discipleship, and the way we have chosen is by small groups meeting together to grow in Christ. When Jesus was here on earth there were three distinct groups around Him. Most of us know about His disciples. But we see that there was a larger group of people who were following Him around. Mark 3: says that “Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed.” Jesus was constantly withdrawing from the crowds. More telling is in Acts 1, when the apostles go to replace Judas. Peter gets up and addresses the brethren it says that about 120 people were there. Let’s pick it up in Acts 1:21–23 (NASB95)

21“Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

22beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

23So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.

            There was a larger group following Jesus and the disciples from the beginning. So I am going to use this illustration and no perfect, it will help us understand why we decided to go this route with our discipleship groups. Think of this larger group as the congregation. They were learning about Jesus, but the dialog was going one way and they were on the periphery of the action. Like this congregation about 200 hundred or so people, You have a pastor who gives a sermon and hopefully it stirs thought and actions in his listeners. But the dialog is only one way, there is no interaction from the congregation. It serve a very good purpose, the congregation is being fed the gospel and given encouragement and the pastor can reach a large audience.

            The next group were the apostles or disciples, and those 12 men had some intimate moments with Jesus. They were able to spend time and gain knowledge from Him firsthand. He invested in their lives. He also commissioned them and sent them out.

            In Matthew 10:1, “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Jesus then sends them out and tells them they are to go to the lost sheep of Isreal and they are to preach. This smaller group, Jesus is giving them more instructions and more authority to do the work of the Kingdom. In our church, we would compare this to our connect groups. Our groups are usually 10-15 people. These groups allow for discussions among the members. There is a more personal connection in these groups. Relationships are able to happen within these groups. People are able to make connections and build a community with the group where there are able to go deeper in their studies through conversations, and if there are needs within that group they are able to be met by the members in that group.

            The third group is that Jesus had a smaller group among His disciples. There is a few instances where we see Jesus take only three of His disciples. One is in Matthew 17, where Jesus is transfigured and He took Peter, John, and James with Him. The other instance we can see in Matthew 26 and the garden of Gethsemane, He again takes Peter, John, and James. These three disciples were the only ones who witnessed these events. They got to see and experiences things the other disciples did not. This model is how we chose to structure our d-groups. Our d-groups are 3-5 men or 3-5 women, who meet together regularly. The purpose of these groups are for the members to form a tight bond in which they can be held accountable to one another. With a smaller group, trust can be earned to the point where they can hold each other accountable. It is in these small groups where we should be able to confess our sins with each other. When we sin, we are to repent and seek restoration. Me personally, when I sin, the last thing I want to do is talk about it with someone. When I realize my sin I am ashamed and I do not want anyone to know what I did. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” For me, I confess to Jesus and to God, but I need to do better about confessing to a person. When we confess to another person our struggles and our sins we gain some accountability. That person should help encourage us through our struggles and help to ensure that we seek reconciliation for the sins we commit against someone else. These smaller groups should encourage more discussions about God and Jesus. People are more comfortable to talk about their beliefs in a smaller group setting. You get people asking questions that they would not ask in a larger group. They are growing in their faith and becoming more comfortable talking about their faith.

            Ok, so that is what and how we view a disciple and discipleship here, now lets look at the command here in Matthew 28:19

1. Jesus commands His disciples to make more disciples.

a. “Jesus calls His disciples to be fishers of men (Matt 4:19), and here in the passage He says every disciple is a disciple maker, that according to Jesus, from beginning to end, to be a disciple is to make disciples” (Platt).

b. Command is make disciples, they are to go, teach, baptize

Go, Jesus is to be made known to all nations, maybe not all missionaries, plenty big mission field right here

Teach, what are they to teach? The gospel. Teaching about Jesus. The greatest gift any of us have is the Gospel, the Story of Jesus. In His time on the earth, Jesus gave us the greatest example of how we should live our lives. People observed how He lived His life and His disciples as we are to as well are to model our lives after His. Jesus lived His life without sin, to the point when He was accused and stood trial before the Jewish leaders they could only bring false accusations against Him (Mark 14). We call that above reproach. Jesus’ character was as such that no false accusations could stick to Him because His life only reflected a perfect and sinless one. The difference between Jesus and us, we do sin, and we must confess and seek reconciliation. Jesus did not. SO then, why did Jesus have to die? HE willingly chose to die for you and for me. Sin has a cost, one who sins must pay the price for their sin, however, Jesus chose to take our place on that cross, He chose to pay for your sins, Listen to what John 3:18 says,

 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

After His death on the cross, Jesus was raised three days later conquering death and giving hope of everlasting life to those who believe.

This is what we are to be teaching

Baptize, we are to baptize the all who profess Jesus as lord so that they give an outward testimony of their faith and belief in Jesus.

2. What is our response, or how should we respond?

a. We must first be discipled

b. We must disciple others