Sharing Christ Above All Else

Intro:

On of the great reasons to be alive today is the ability and freedom we have to take in and share information. I was telling some students the other day that I vividly remember in 5th grade being taken to the computer lab and hoping that we might be able to play Museum Madness or Oregon Trail on the computer due to its high educational value. What better way to understand the plight of the frontier travelers of the 1800’s than to say forget you to my daughters diphtheria and keep pressing forward without stopping to rest or take medicine? For me I truly learned the importance of rapidly hunting every squirrel, bunny, and bear in sight because food was more important than anything else.

To my chagrin when we got to the computer lab the teacher had a word on the board. Google. I will never forget that in 5th grade I had to sit through and hour long class about how to use this search engine called Google. We had to learn how to ask google questions. And when we phrased things correctly information would come up about different websites that might have answers to our questions.

At the time I could not have imagined the resource and wealth of information that would become available.

In 9th grade I discovered youtube and would have no idea that this video site where cats can become viral and boys names Charlie would bite their brothers would eventually become the way I would learn to work on my car and teach myself to use a lathe.

My senior year of high school I remember starting my own Facebook account in my American Sign Language Class. I remember thinking I was in sin doing this behind my parents back and how other Christians responded at the knowledge that people would dare have a social media profile.

Which brings me to today. We are constantly bombarded with information at the touch of our devices. While this is no surprise to any of us we also know that this wealth of information is fraught with opinion, bias, misinformation etc.

It becomes almost impossible to know what is true about anything anymore and it is so easy to be swayed by what we hear or see. At the press of a button we can see that Covid is real and we need to mask it or casket or that it supposedly isn't real and its all a conspiracy. Election fraud is real and isn't real. Joe Biden is elected and isn't elected. The lions are good or .... well they aren’t good. The lions aren’t good. We as Christians can be sucked into this and of course the news of the day becomes what we focus on. I am immensely guilty of this.

It is in times such as these when we are constantly drawn into the information of the day and sharing that information that we need to be reminded of the greatest information we have been given and be reminded of our command to share it above all else.

I am speaking of course of the great commission found in Matthew 28:16-20. Let’s turn there and remind ourselves of what Jesus has asked of us.

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our mission as Christians is to Share Christ above all else and I want to point out 5 truths about our call to share Christ above all else.

The first truth that we know when we share Christ is that ...

Our Situation is, some will believe, some will not vs 16-17

This passage in Matthew picks up as Jesus prepares to make his departure to heaven. Present are the disciples as well as 500 witnesses and Jesus is giving the believers what we call the great commission.

As he is speaking, people who knew who he was and were witnessing him as the risen Lord still did not believe that he was the Messiah. This could be in part because in the section prior the Jewish leaders had begun spreading the fake news that Jesus had not risen but that his body was stolen.

Regardless, people knew who Jesus was and some chose not to believe who he was and the message he shared.

For us as believers we can put undo pressure on ourselves when sharing out faith. Often I believe this pressure actually leads us to not share our faith for fear of failure.

Matthew points out what we know to be true. When we share our faith some will believe and some will not believe.

What should be reassuring to us is that while we are used by God to share the truth of the Gospel, peoples salvation is not dependent on our words, our rhetoric, our whit, or our knowledge. Rather, peoples salvation is dependent on the Lord. We see in John 6:44 that

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

When Christians boldly share their faith it is the Lord that can choose at that time to convict the sinner of their sin

We also see in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Therefore, it is God that can bring a person to an understanding of the gospel from their natural sinful mind-

So instead of fearing the outcome of our gospel presentation we can enter into the conversations knowing that some will not beleive. Some will doubt, and yet it is God that is in control.

This leads to our second truth which is that

Our Strength is Jesus Christ vs 18

Having preached a sermon titled Jesus is King a few months ago I realize that some may say, geee Nate I think you have made this point. And would say yes I have. Yet, Jesus spent 3 years making this point to his disciples and to the Jewish people and some still doubted apparently so if Jesus can make this point for 3 years I suppose I can bring it up twice in a few months.

Jesus states in verse 22 that all authority in the heaven and earth belongs to him.

Let’s remind ourselves of what was stated by peter in 1 Peter 3:22

22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

It is God who is in charge and all things are subject to him.

This means two things in regard to the great commission.

First

It is Jesus who is in charge and he commands us to share out faith. The statements that Jesus will make in the following verses are not an option, are not a choice, are not for debate. They are a call to obedience

Second

It is Jesus who we can be confident in as we share our faith

Again as believers we may think of someone we know we are to share our faith with and we choose instead to hide away the hope that is in us because of fear, or business, or laziness. But when our King is Jesus and he is in charge of everything we must take seriously the call to share our faith above all else.

Let me attempt to illustrate our position

My oldest son Hardison is a bright, energetic little guy. Recently, he has begun to express his will more than just having a tantrum when he doesn’t want to do what is asked.

At times he will state why he doesn’t want to do what we are asking, and try and make an actual argument. My wife and I have begun asking him “Who is in charge?” and coincidentally he gets to respond with “Mom and Dad are.” Usually mumbling and looking down at his feet.

The question bears with it two points. This obvious first is that mom and dad have the ability to make life hard for him if he chooses to continue to disobey. In other words we are the ones with the power.

The second point is that Hardison has to remember and be confident in the power and responsibility that God has given my wife and I. Obviously as a human I will abuse that power at times but the good news for us is that Jesus does not abuse that power, Jesus uses his authority perfectly and for our good!

So if Christians believe that Jesus is in charge, and are confident in his authority we have no excuse to refrain from sharing our faith.

If we are obediently going to share the gospel with others we must know where and how that is to be done.

Matthew 28:19 tells us 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, so we know that our...

Our Station is the world, our context is our community vs 19

The call from Christ to share the gospel is a call to reach every corner of the earth and every people group. Obviously the individual believer is unable to accomplish reaching the world and so the believer must ask themselves who can I reach?

The individual believer can likely reach out to

Their family

Their friends

Their coworkers

Classmates

PTO board members

Teammates

Bosses

Hairdresser

Homeless- They sit out on Moross every day and many of you drive past. Get stuck at the light. And could share a gospel tract, a bible, a prayer quickly with them.

Local enemies

Facebook friends

facebook frenemies

and many more people

Notice that Christ did not say go into the world and contact who you are comfortable sharing with. NO! We are called to share the Gospel. WIth the whole world. Because...

Romans 10:13-14 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So I would ask you. Who have you shared your faith with. In your local context who have your reached out to?

Who do you know is destined for eternity in hell because they have not heard the hope that is in you?

I also encourage you to be praying for our missionaries who have been called and sent to different parts of the world. Pray that they do no lose heart during these tough days. Pray that they focus on their calling and share the Gospel above all else.

This idea of sharing the gospel means we need to know what we are to share. This seems like a strange statement but lets focus on the main goal that Jesus laid out for us

Our Scope is to make disciples, vs 19- 20

This seems obvious but the focus on making disciples is not to be taken lightly. Making disciples means that someone must become a follower of Christ, not just one who assents to believe in God, no one who says the believe in a person named Jesus. Think for a moment about those you know and what their answer to the following question might be

Do you believe in God?

Do you believe in Jesus?

What is the eternal consequence for sin?

How is it that a person is saved from their sin?

How is it that someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ?

What is somewhat astonishing about these questions is that there can be answers that SOUND right but often, when asking how someone is saved. People cannot give a sufficient answer.

Here is what it means to...

Make Disciples

We share the gospel with someone and through the hearing of the word and work of the Holy Spirit that person believes that

They are a sinner

The consequence for sin is physical and spiritual death

Jesus being God died, was buried, and rose again as a sacrifice for our sin

And that by trusting in Jesus work and seeking forgiveness for sin one is saved from their sin.

Our call for those we share the Gospel with is what acts 16:31 says which is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved”

Secondary to that is encouraging believers to be baptized

Baptize them

Baptism is an outward action of obedience to God where one affirms their belief to the church and thus the church can encourage the believer in their faith.

Notice that baptism follows disciple making. Not precedes. I think it important in our area that we know this, believe it, and share that with others in our community.

Finally we encourage believers to continue to learn and grow in their faith. We teach them

Teach them

I don’t want to spend a long time on this point other than to encourage you as believers that the role of teaching is not exclusive to pastors, or bible study leaders. In a formal setting perhaps. But we can be teaching one another in the day to day. We can be encouraging one another in the day to day.

For some of us here we are gung ho, ready to go, and conquer the world with the Gospel. And so I say to you Praise the Lord go and do it. Bit I assume many feel a sense of anxiety, panic, guilt, apathy, or tiredness when it comes to sharing our faith. I know many of you have been praying and sharing for YEARS for people you know who have not trusted Christ. So I want to leave you with my first point as my last point.

Our Strength is Jesus Christ vs 20

I don’t think Jesus says “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” lightly.

I believe Jesus understood how the disciples would be feeling when their teacher, friend, and savior returned to heaven. They’d feel anxious, panicked, overwhelmed, confused and more.

So Jesus leaves by stating that WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS! instead when know that the call to preach the Gospel is one we do with the help of Jesus

1 Corinthians 5:18-20 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Notice who is entrusted with the message. We are. If Christ entrusted us to be ambassadors it means two things

God must really be all powerful to use us as messengers

God must be walking with us as we share the message of reconciliation

Conclusion:

So what does this all mean for us

I have some questions I will ask and I’d like to pause and give you a moment to reflect on the answers between each one

Analyze the content you have shared the past month. How much of that included clear messages of the gospel? Are you sharing Christ above all else? Think of someone you can begin a Gospel conversation with this week?

We have no excuse, and we have no greater calling than to share our faith with others.

It would be a pity, and a travesty to step into GOd’s presence knowing that we had faithfully shared our sport teams, our politics, our social justice desires, our opinions, and our convictions and yet neglected to share our faith.

So I commit to sharing my faith with someone this week. I would ask that you do the same. Let’s pray