The Great Commission-outline

The Great Commission

(Matt. 28:18-20)

The great slogan of John A. Mott, “the evangelization of the world in this generation,” is a noble slogan.   

The Great Commission is not about decisions.

The Great Commission is not about evangelism.

The Great Commission is about disciples.  To “teach” means to make disciples.

The Lord wants all nations!  The word “nations” literally means individual ethnic groups.

I.                   Authority

The entire Gospel of Matthew stresses the authority of Jesus Christ. There was authority to His teaching (Matt. 7:29). He exercised authority in healing (Matt. 8:1-13), and even in forgiving sins (Matt. 9:6). He had authority over Satan, and He delegated that authority to His Apostles (Matt. 10:1).

The Pharisees and the Scribes questioned the authority of Jesus (Matt. 21).  Jesus Christ has all authority (Matt. 28:18).

Jesus Christ’s authority demands that every creature in heaven and on earth must submit to Him. 

II.                Activity

1. Go-The tense of the verb assumes that this will take place.
2. Baptizing-identifying them with the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Teaching them to observe all things-literally guarding in their hearts the Lord’s commandments.   

A disciple, then, is one who has believed on Jesus Christ and expressed this faith by being baptized. He remains in the fellowship of the believers that he might be taught the truths of the faith (Acts 2:41-47). He is then able to go out and win others and teach them. This was the pattern of the New Testament church (Acts 14:21-23).

This is not just for missionaries!  If we were to disciple just one every six months, we would reach the world for Christ in just 16 years. 

III.             Ability

The word “always” literally means every moment of the day.  This is one of the only promises we have in disciple making.

The “end of the world” refers to the Second Coming.  Every unbeliever will be removed from the earth!