Sharing His Story
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Sharing His Story
Matthew 28:16-20
If you have your Bible (and I hope that you do) you can go ahead and open it to Matthew 28, that’s the last chapter in Matthew’s Gospel.
There were a group of people who called themselves fishers and there were plenty of fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish in the water, they were hungry. Week after week, month after month, and year after year this group who called themselves fishers held meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they could go about fishing. They carefully defined what fishing meant, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be the primary job of fishers.
They continually searched for new and better methods of fishing, and for new and better definitions of fishing. They loved their slogans too. Things like, “Fishing is the task of every Fisher,” and “A fishing outpost for every fishing club.” They sponsored special meetings called “Fisher’s Campaigns” and “The Month for Fishers to Fish.”
They held assemblies to discuss fishing, to promote fishing and to hear about all the new methods of fishing and whether any new bait was discovered. These fishers built large, beautiful buildings that they called “Fishing Headquarters.” The plea was that everyone should be a fisher and every fisher should fish.
There was one thing that they didn’t do though – fish.
In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishers to other places where there were many fish. Everyone seemed to agree that what was needed was a board which could challenge fishers to be faithful in fishing. The board was formed by those who had the great vision and courage to speak about fishing, to define fishing, and to promote the idea of fishing in faraway streams and lakes where many fish of different colors lived.
But one thing they didn’t do was fish.
Large, elaborate and expensive training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach people how to fish. Over the years, courses were offered on the needs of fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in “fishology.” But, no matter how well they taught, one thing the good Dr. Fishers forgot to do was to fish.
Now it’s true that many of the fishers sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. Some were ridiculed by people who made fun of their fishing clubs. So, imagine how hurt some of them were when, one day, someone suggested that those who didn’t catch fish were really not fishers – no matter how much they claimed to be.
Is a person a fisher if year after year they never catch a fish?
Is a person a fisher if he isn’t fishing?
We’re focusing in this series on what took place between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus, when He appeared to individuals on several occasions over a period of a little longer than a month.
These encounters helped to solidify the faith of these first followers as Acts 1:3 tells us:
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
We’ve looked at how Jesus appeared to two of His followers on the road to Emmaus, he appeared to the disciples in a locked room without Thomas and second time when Thomas was present, and we saw Jesus share breakfast with seven of the disciples on the shore of Galilee and restored Peter.
Last week, we learned that Jesus wants us to love Him unconditionally, to serve others selflessly and to follow Him faithfully. That’s really the Great Commandment: to love God and to love others.
This morning our focus is on the Great Commission, given by the Master Fisher of Men.
Sometimes, I think that we have gotten our priorities wrong in the church. We get mixed up in the mission of the church. We think that the church exists to meet our needs, to operate the way that we like it too, with the right number of services, the right kind of music, the right length sermons, plenty of opportunities to eat together, and basically keep us happy.
I want to suggest today that the main mission of this church, and every other church, is made very clear by the Savior. His final words must become our first priority.
So, let’s pray and we’ll read Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20.
Pray!
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.”
We’re going to divide this text into five parts. The first thing we see is:
Community
Community
After Jesus had breakfast on the beach with seven of the disciples, and restored Peter to ministry, He then met with the eleven:
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
After initially appearing to the disciples in Jerusalem, He told them to travel to Galilee, away from hustle and bustle and the noise of the capital city, and wait for Him on a mountain. Galilee was the site of so many miracles, much ministry and was the home of some of the disciples.
Being on a mountain must have given them memories of the time Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount; when Peter, James and John went up on a mountain and saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes; and when Jesus would withdraw to a mountain by Himself for prayer.
In fact, Jesus actually told them about this meeting on the mountain before He was crucified in:
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Then, after the Resurrection, an angel gave the women this message to give to the disciples:
Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Jesus Himself gave these same directions just a few verses later:
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
The disciples listened to the Lord and did as He said, traveling about 70 miles from Jerusalem to Galilee. They weren’t exactly sure when Jesus would come, but they knew He would. Once again, we see that they obeyed what was revealed to them. Some commentators believe that this meeting included hundreds of other believers as well, pointing to:
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
There was community and then there was a:
Consecration
Consecration
The disciples not only listened, they also worshipped:
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
The word “worship” here means that they went to their knees and put their forehead to the ground. Interestingly, this is the first time we read that the disciples responded like this. When they saw that it was Jesus, the majority prostrated themselves before Him. They were liberated, with nothing holding them back, as they consecrated themselves. This is the response that Jesus wants from us today. We are to be so in awe of Him that we can’t help but submit and surrender to Him.
John Piper reminds us that ministry and missions must always start and end with worship. He says:
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is the ultimate, not missions, because God is the ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.”
We see that a number of the disciples bowed low in praise and there were also some who still doubted. This is hard to believe, or is it? These disciples had seen so much, and yet some of them still doubted. Maybe they started looking around and wondered if they were up to the task before them.
This shows us at least four things:
We will always have to deal with doubts
Doubts don’t disqualify us from ministry
Every group has worshippers and doubters
The mission goes on in the midst of doubters
There was community, consecration and next a:
Claim
Claim
Those present have been liberated enough to worship (or doubt) and now the Lord makes an amazing claim in verse 18:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Notice here that Jesus didn’t stay far away but came close to them. Maybe those who doubted weren’t sure it was Him but now their uncertainty vanished as He appealed to the authority that had been given to Him.
Paul wrote something similar in:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Friends, there is nothing in this world that is outside the authority of Jesus Christ. He has power over Satan and all his evil forces; stars, galaxies, planets and meteorites; wind, rain and tornadoes; every breath we take and every beat of our hearts; He has control over presidents and kings and congress; and even over you.
He has been given all power and all authority – there is nothing outside of His control. The scope and magnitude of His reign is infinite. He has the right to do as He pleases, and whatever we are told to do, He will accomplish in His authority!
There was community, a consecration, a claim and next a:
Command
Command
As Jesus stands between heaven and earth, He has one last thing to say to His followers. This is not a suggestion or an option, though for many of us, we could refer to it as the “Great Omission.” Let me read these familiar words:
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.
Let’s unpack this phrase-by-phrase.
“Go…” This literally means, “as you go” or “in your going.” In other words, we are to make disciples in the natural course of our lives, wherever we go. It’s really not a command; but rather a given – as we go, and we will go, this is what we should do.
As we go to work, to school, the grocery store, on vacation…
We must move and cannot stand still!
“Therefore…” Because of His authority, Jesus has the right to reign supreme and to give commands to His followers. Everything He says, and all that we have been given to do, is based upon His universal and unquestioned Lordship. We are sent out as ambassadors of the authoritative one, the Alpha and Omega, and because of that we have nothing to fear.
“Make disciples…” This is actually the only command in this passage; the other words revolve around disciple-making. We are to go in order to make disciples. We are to baptize disciples. And we are to teach disciples to obey. A disciple is literally a “learner,” one who is being mentored by the Master.
At the heart of our mission is the reproduction in others of what Jesus has produced in us: faith, obedience, growth, authority, compassion, love, and a bold, truthful message as his witnesses. They were learners commanded to produce more learners.
It’s important that you see that we are to do more than just evangelism – we must also equip, educate and embrace new believers into reproducing churches.
“Of all nations…” The task of making disciples must extend to the ends of the earth. The word “nations” is the Greek word ethnos, where we get the word ethnic. This word refers to “people groups,” not just countries. Our task is not just to make disciples in the 195 countries of the world; but to go to the 17,071 distinct people groups scattered across the continents!
Amazingly, of these groups, according to the Joshua Project, 7,102 are still considered “unreached” with the gospel message. That’s 41.6% if you’re a math person.
You see, there is not a culture or an ethnic group or a society or a religion or a language where Jesus does not have the right to be worshiped as Lord. Jesus Christ, the living, all-authoritative Lord of the universe, has commanded us to call every nation, every people, and every religion to repent and believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and the inheritance of eternal life with the one true God.
I’m really afraid that we as American Christians have lost sight of the fact that there are thousands of people dying without Christ every day and waking up in the horrors of hell.
Here’s a question. What percentage of the world’s population resides in the United States? Just 4.4%, and yet we often act like we’re the center of the universe. We must take the gospel to the globe!
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
Since there will be believers from every people group in heaven, we must go with the gospel and make disciples to the ends of the earth.
“Baptizing them…” Baptism is a sign of separation from the world and identifying with the triune God. It’s an outward expression of an inner decision. Baptism doesn’t save us but it is an initial act of obedience. It’s publicly identifying with Christ.
Paul says it this way:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
“And teaching them to obey…” Teaching is meant to be transformational. It’s one thing to know what it says but something completely different to actually to do it. We are not interested in just filling heads; we want filled up hearts and faithful feet that obey.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
There was community, a consecration, a claim a command and finally:
Comfort
Comfort
While Jesus gives us what seems like an impossible task, He does so with His authority and also with His loving comfort:
…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
No matter how challenging and difficult the task may seem, remember that He is with you. Someone has said, “Live as if Jesus were coming back today and work as if he will return in 1,000 years.”
Remember Jesus’ promise found in Matthew 16:18:
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Jesus is with us continuously, without break. He never sleeps nor slumbers as Psalm 121:4 tells us. Hebrews 13:5 promises that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. One of my favorite verses is found in Isaiah 41:10:
fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Jesus is certainly with us, and He will be with us to the very end of the age, when we gather together as His people and when we scatter into the world as His witnesses.
This is a mission we don’t have to do alone – it’s the commission, meaning “together” – we serve with others and the Savior is with us always.
And so, listen to Him; be liberated in your worship; listen; obey His final command; and allow His loving presence to comfort you. Let’s not just talk about fishing; let’s be fishers!