The King's Command

Introduction

ILLUST - Ever leave a child with a task only to come back and find they became distracted?

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Recognize the claim of Jesus on the world and on you. (16-18)

“All authority” is given to Jesus:

The word “all” is used four times in this passage (All authority, all nations, observe all teaching, with us always )

all nations

observe all teaching

with us always

The word here used for “all” in the original means ALL

In heaven.

There is no greater spiritual authority than Jesus. His resurrected body proves Satan cannot own you. He speaks from God as God.

On earth.

Jesus is Lord of all nations. There is no nation that can or will stop the spread of the gospel. There are no laws or dictators that can stop the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.

The implication, then, is that Jesus also has all authority over YOU.

Over you.

This is what it means to be a follower of Christ. You don’t live for yourself anymore. He is your life. You have been bought with a price.

Hear me - Jesus is the authority in your job. Jesus is the authority in your family. Jesus is the authority in your marriage. Not you.

To claim Jesus as “Lord of your life” means he has a claim on every part of your life. We surrender to his will for our lives; he does not surrender to ours.

This means you go where he says to go and you do what he says to do, no matter the cost.

For some we need to stop right there. If you don’t acknowledge who Jesus is in your life, you will not do what he says to do with your life.

We are called to be disciples as we make disciples.

You can’t lead people to a place you are not willing to go yourself.

If people follow us, where are we leading towards? Safety and comfort or radical and sacrificial devotion to Jesus.

**The first step in making disciples is to be a disciple.

Where are you in following Jesus?

Exploring, Growing, Serving, or Reproducing?

Exploring?

We want you to know Jesus!

Infant, Child, Young Adult, Parent (Jim Putman)

Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators.

The curse of today is that we are too busy. I am not talking about being busy earning money to buy food. I am talking about being busy doing Christian things. We have spiritual activity with little productivity.

I wonder

. . . today we have a lot of pew-sitters — people think that if they are faithful in church attendance, put good-sized gifts into the offering plate and get people to come, they have done their part.

Obey the command of Jesus to make disciples. (19-20a)

The church does not exist to manage disciples; the church is called and commanded to MAKE disciples.

One imperative verb - “Make disciples.”

Going, Baptizing, Teaching are all participles that further explain how to carry out how we are to make disciples.

One of Satan’s biggest ploys (at least in America) is to keep Christians casual and complacent. illust – Screwtape Letters?

If he can persuade Christians that one hour a week is sufficient to be a fully functioning member of the Body of Christ then he has crippled the Body.

If he can keep Christians focused on satisfying their own comforts and “spiritual needs” he can distract them from the 2.8 billion people around the world who have not even heard the name “Jesus” and slow the mission of God.

If he can fool Christians into thinking that following Christ is something that we “fit” into our lives instead of something that consumes our lives, then he has succeeded in compartmentalizing the Christian walk.

Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators.

The curse of today is that we are too busy. I am not talking about being busy earning money to buy food. I am talking about being busy doing Christian things. We have spiritual activity with little productivity.

. . . today we have a lot of pew-sitters — people think that if they are faithful in church attendance, put good-sized gifts into the offering plate and get people to come, they have done their part.

I wonder how money, time, and energy in the church is focused on maintaining programs and people who already know and follow Jesus (These are good things); instead of resources intentionally focused on equipping and making disciples and disciple-makers.

ILLUSTR - on average, it takes 85 church attenders to make one disciple.

One imperative verb - “Make disciples.”

Going, Baptizing, Teaching are all participles that further explain how to carry out how we are to make disciples.

“Make disciples” as you are:

What is a disciple?

To follow Christ, to be a disciple is to be:

- Intensely devoted to the person of Jesus (“come after me”)

Context is the confession of who Christ is.

- Intensely devoted to the place of Jesus in your life. (“deny himself”)

To deny oneself is to give something else the place. It denotes submission to Christ.

- Intensely devoted to the purpose of Jesus (“take up his cross”)

Taking up a cross implies suffering but not random suffering, suffering for the cause of Jesus, the mission

- Intensely devoted to the transformation in Jesus (“follow me”)

You can’t lead someone to someplace that you are not willing to go yourself.

If you are not leading others to follow Jesus then you are not fully following Jesus yourself.

One of Satan’s biggest ploys (at least in America) is to keep Christians casual and complacent. illust – Screwtape Letters?

If he can persuade Christians that one hour a week is sufficient to be a fully functioning member of the Body of Christ then he has crippled the Body.

If he can keep Christians focused on satisfying their own comforts and “spiritual needs” he can distract them from the 2.8 billion people around the world who have not even heard the name “Jesus” and slow the mission of God.

If he can fool Christians into thinking that following Christ is something that we “fit” into our lives instead of something that consumes our lives, then he has succeeded in compartmentalizing the Christian walk to a weekly part of one’s life.

Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators.

The curse of today is that we are too busy. I am not talking about being busy earning money to buy food. I am talking about being busy doing Christian things. We have spiritual activity with little productivity.

. . . today we have a lot of pew-sitters — people think that if they are faithful in church attendance, put good-sized gifts into the offering plate and get people to come, they have done their part.

I wonder how money, time, and energy in the church is focused on maintaining programs and people who already know and follow Jesus (These are good things); instead of resources intentionally focused on equipping and making disciples and disciple-makers.

ILLUSTR - on average, it takes 85 church attenders to make one disciple.

Being a disciple was always intended to lead to making disciples.

ESV

Matthew 4:19 ESV

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus never said to follow him so they might be nice rule-followers.

Going

- Note this is not a command to “wait for people to come,” but a call to GO.

- Jesus never meant for the church to be stationary.

- Go into “all the world” – lit. “all ethnos” – all ethnicities.

- The statement is lit, “as you are going.” For some, this will mean you will need to GO. But we are all going somewhere. We are to make disciples as we go – Lifestyle evangelism

- We were called to make disciples to go into the world, not disinfect believers from the world.

This is evangelism. Whatever your Whatever your job, talent, skill it is to be leveraged for the gospel.

Illust - I will have a hard time reaching certain people, but you may work with them, have coffee with them every day.

Evangelism is not the job of professionals - it’s the call of every Christ-follower.

Do you have the name of one person in your sphere of life who does not know Jesus?

Pray: for an opportunity to speak to them about Jesus, for the courage, for the words.

Baptizing

Baptism is:

• Identification with Christ

• Entrance into the Church

Bring them into the community of God.

Teaching

We are to be teaching “to obey” - which means we are with them enough to know if they are obeying.

Teaching them to:

Study Bible

Pray

Make disciples

If someone walked up to you today and said they would like to become a disciple of Jesus, what would you say?

This is why we say we walk together to take the next step in a Jesus-first life.

Are you learning for the purpose of managing your own faith, or are you learning in order to teach your faith?

**I can’t do it - you’re right

Depend on the presence and power of Jesus to accomplish the task. (20b)

Jesus entrusts us.

ILLUST - There are certain tasks that Christine does not leave to me. (pick out clothes for picture day, take the boys to the army/navy store)

Illust - There are certain tasks that Christine does not leave to me. (pick out clothes for picture day, take the boys to the army/navy store)

All that has been accomplished in the church - the spread of the gospel to millions and millions Jesus has accomplished through eleven men.

Think about it. The risen Christ left

There is no Plan B for the spread of the gospel.

God did not say that if we were unable or unwilling to accomplish the mission, he would come and take over the job of evangelism.

Jesus accompanies us.

Exodus 3:12 ESV

He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Exodus 4:12 ESV

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

Joshua 1:5 ESV

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Joshua 1:9 ESV

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Judges 6:16 ESV

And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Jeremiah 1:8 ESV

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

The promise of Jesus to be with us on mission guarantees we have his authority as we go.

Illust - being “on a mission alone” - my first rollback pickup

*We will never be more hungry for the presence of Christ than when we are in great personal crisis or great spiritual mission. We run to Jesus when faced with great trial or great risk.

*You are safer risking everything for Jesus than you are holding everything for yourself.

Jesus equips us.

Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, equips and empowers us to make disciples. The Spirit works on the hearts of people to prepare them for the gospel

You have everything you need - why wouldn’t you?

Conclusion

We’ve seen this passage before.

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