The Great Commission

Text: Matt. 28.18-20

Thesis: To prove that every Christian has an obligation, which should be truly a desire, to spread

             the gospel to the lost.

Introduction:

(1)    Illustration – A man awoke one morning to see crowd gathered around the church building and was told that Jesus was inside.  The man got in line and finally got to the front where he saw Jesus chained to the pulpit.  He was troubled and asked, “Jesus, why are you chained up?”  Jesus replied, “My people will not let me outside.”

(2)    Can this be said of us?

(3)    Oftentimes, Matthew 28.19 is the Great Omission!

(4)    Nevertheless, “Go ye means go me!”

Discussion:

I.                   We have the MESSAGE to carry out this commission.

A.    God has entrusted man with the gospel.

1.      “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4.7).

2.      Hence, we must handle it correctly (cf. 2 Tim. 2.15).

3.      This helps us understand why Paul said, “[…] I am pure from the blood of all men” (Acts 20.26).

a.       This goes back to the Old Testament teaching of the watchman (cf. Ezek. 3; 18; 33).

b.      God wants us to be His watchmen and warn the people!

B.     What do we say?

1.      Simply, we tell people what we did to obey the gospel.

2.      We express it by speaking as the oracles of God (1 Pet. 4.11).

3.      The message of the 1st century is still the message of the 21st century (cf. Acts 2.38).

II.                We have the MEANS to carry out this commission.

A.    Living in America, we are among the richest in the world.

1.      Conservative estimates place the average American in the top 10% of the world.

2.      Other figures will have us in the top 5%.

B.     We should have the time.

1.      We are to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6.33).

2.      We spend too much time watching television, going to sporting events, etc.

3.      Some offer the excuse that they are “too busy.”

4.      Poem:

I knelt to pray, but not for long, I had so much to do

I must hurry off and get to work, for bills will soon be due

And so I said a hurried prayer and jumped up from my knees

My Christian duty now was done and my soul could feel at ease

All through the day I had no time to speak a word of cheer

No time to speak a word for God, they’d laugh at me I fear

And when before the Lord I stood, I stood with downcast eyes

Within His hands, He held a book, it was the book of life

God looked into His book and said, “Your name, I cannot find

I once was going to write it down, but I never found the time.”

C.     We have the transportation.

1.      We are told to go; thus, the means of our going is left up to us.

2.      We may walk, run, drive, go on a boat, fly, etc.

D.    We have the technology.

1.      We have available the telephone, television, and radio.

2.      We have the information superhighway known as the internet.

3.      How are we utilizing these sources?

III.             We have the METHOD to carry out this commission.

A.    The guiding principle is that only the word of God is declared (cf. 2 Tim. 4.2).

B.     Paul speaks of reaching out to people where they are to take them to where they need to be (cf. 1 Cor. 9.19-23).

1.      We employ this method in our Bible classes.

2.      This was utilized in the cases of conversion recorded in the book of Acts.

The true question is:

IV.             Do we have the MOTIVATION to carry out this commission?

A.    There is an underlining principle in all matters of service to God: It must be motivated by love (John 14.15).

1.      We will see love as we have our eyes fixed upon the cross (Heb. 12.2).

2.      We will see love as Jesus died for our sins as well as for those of all men (Heb. 2.9).

3.      There is no wonder why the gospel is truly “good news” (cf. 1 Cor. 15.1-4).

a.       When something goes well in our daily lives, we can barely contain it even to virtual strangers.

b.      Why do we keep the best news in the world to ourselves?

c.       The news should move us so much that we cannot contain it within ourselves (cf. Jer. 20.9).

B.     Jesus taught us that we are to love God and our neighbor (Matt. 22.37-40).

1.      Every person is either a missionary or a mission field.

2.      Do we see the lost and dying people in this world?

3.      Do we weep tears when thinking of others being lost (cf. Rom. 9.1-3)?

C.     “For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19.10).

D.    “And Jesus answering and said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick” (Luke 5.31).

Conclusion:

(1)     “You never mentioned him to me:”

Imagine standing in line on the day of judgment and seeing masses of people in every direction.  You look more closely and see some of your family, friends, co-students, co-workers, and neighbors in front of the line.  Immediately, you see them weeping as God tells them, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”  They all turn to you and scream, “You saw me every day and pretended to be my friend.  We talked about everything from politics to sports, but you never invited me to attend worship services.  You never asked to study the Bible.  You never mentioned him to me.  Why?”  What could we say?

(2)     Will we take Jesus outside to the lost?

(3)     Before we teach Christ to others, we must first be living the Christian life.

(a)    Have you obeyed the gospel?

(b)    If so, then are you being faithful?

i.                    Faithfulness includes practicing the great commission.

ii.                  Let us avow that we will start today telling others about the risen Savior.