The Great Commission

JULY 18, 2021 STUDY NOTES MATTHEW 28:18-20 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES THE GREAT COMMISSION INTRODUCTION A great concern for the church of toady is the lack of prayer and Bible study among its members But probably the greatest concern that we should have today is the lack of “Witnessing to Others” It stands to reason that the lack of witnessing is a result of the lack of prayer and Bible Study Both of which will encourage the Christian to be concerned about those who are lost Praying for the lost should be a part of our daily prayer life There should be someone specific on our prayer list, praying for a certain person to be saved It has been said that we will not talk to others about Christ until we talk to Christ about others As we daily study the Bible and learn the promises and blessings for those who are saved We should have a desire for all others to come to know Jesus and experience the same blessings We must realize that those who are “spiritually lost” need to be saved, they “must be born again,” Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (Sinners must be born from above to enter into the Kingdom of God)) We who are “born again” must go and share with the lost the gospel of salvation Witnessing to the lost is not just a matter of telling them about Jesus The daily Christians witness is a matter of “show and tell” We must show them Jesus in our walk as well as tell them about Jesus in our talk This passage, known as “The Great Commission,” gives Christians our mission for Christ All Christians are “Disciples of Christ,” which means we are “Followers of Jesus” The term “disciple” in the NT is a technical term for the “followers of Jesus” The Great Commission instructs the followers of Jesus to be “going” It actually says, “Followers of Jesus, as you are going, make Followers of Jesus” Our commission is “Go make disciples,” disciples are to be making disciples as we go We are to go make disciples and then baptize them because they have become a disciple We are to teach “all” disciples “all” that Jesus has commanded of His disciples New disciples must learn that they are to go make disciples For some Christians it may not be a lack of desire to witness to the lost, it may be fear Regardless of what holds us back from “Witnessing to Others,” we all need this message today “All” is an important truth of this passage: Jesus is “all” power (vs. 18) Jesus sends us to “all” nations (vs. 19) We are to teach “all” of the commandments of Jesus (vs. 20) Jesus will be with us “all” of the way (vs. 20) GOD GIVEN AUTHORITY Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Jesus could read the minds of His disciples He knew what they were thinking He knew that in their heart was a hesitation to 100% follow Him The grade of sincere Christians is 100 when it comes to faithful church attendance Their grade is 100 when it comes to Bible study, they want to learn all they can Page 1 of 5 The grade is 100 when it comes to pray and praying for the needs of others But when it comes to discipling others, we often make a “O,” we fail the course In order to encourage us to make disciples, Jesus speaks of His authority and power It means that Christ has full authority and the capability to officially rule and reign Peter preached that power with authority on the Day of Pentecost, Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Jesus said that all authority had been given unto Him “in heaven and in earth” It is God-given authority, authority that came from heaven and is of heaven Christ has the authority to send forth to earth all that originates in heaven Christ has the authority to bestow upon us God’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness Christ also has the authority to send forth the fire and brimstone of God’s wrath Jesus has the full authority of heaven to save those who will call upon Him, Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus has the authority to overcome the world, Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Through His authority Christians can be overcomers, 1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Paul claimed the power and authority that he had received from Christ, Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Christians can stand strong in the power and authority of the Lord, Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Through the God-given authority of Christ, we can defeat the devil, Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our faith in Christ is our power to deflect and turn away all temptations that come from Satan, Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. We have the message of salvation and the victory of life on earth and in heaven We like to sing “Victory in Jesus,” it is now time to live it, it is time to share it with the lost We must believe that Christ has the authority to send forth His disciples to make disciples As His disciples we have the authority of Christ to go and make disciples Christians are to “Go” filled with the confidence and courage that comes from Christ Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: “Go ye” is not a command, it is an assumption, taking action based upon the power of Jesus In other words, you are a follower of Christ, and because you are, you should be “going” So, as you are going, you are to go make “followers of Christ” Followers of Christ are to make followers of Christ as they “are going” “Go” represents our daily style of life, as Christians we are to be Christ-like in our living As you are living, let others see Christ in your life Christians have something to “go for,” we have something to “live for” It doesn’t matter where you are going, go make disciples, tell someone about Jesus The command is “Go make disciples,” and then baptize them, and then teach them And as you go, go with the authority and power of Jesus Christ and teach The Greek word translated “teach” actually means “make disciples” Page 2 of 5 That is what Jesus is commanding us to do in this passage We who are “disciples” are to make them as we are, in order to do that, we must be “as He is” We must learn of Him, study Him, obey Him, and follow Him daily Our teaching must be to all nations, we must tell “all” who are lost about Jesus Again, I call your attention to the word “All,” we are to make disciples of “All people” Which means there can be no restrictions based upon personalities and no social or racial barriers “ALL LIFE MATTERS” when it comes to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Which is the lesson we learn from the parable of the “Great Banquet” (Luke 14:12-24) Christians must be willing to go wherever the lost are found, Luk 14:21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. Jesus gave us a world-wide mission effort, a task that is beyond human ability But we have been equipped with spiritual ability, Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. We have received the Holy Spirit, we have received the power to go, and it is time to go Without someone going there will be no baptismal services We are to be baptizing them, “Baptizing” literally means “to put or go under water” Who should be baptized? The answer is found in Acts 8:26-40 (last week’s message) Philip was sent by the Holy Spirit to the Ethiopian Eunuch The eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah and had a question, Act 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Philip had the answer, which we must hear today, which we must learn today, Act 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. Notice that Philip did not tell him about the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem He did not tell him about the worship service or all of the weekly activities that the church offered He didn’t give him a copy of last week’s bulletin filled with all of the activities of his church Philip fulfilled the Great Commission, he told the Eunuch about Jesus, and then he baptized him He baptized him because of the testimony of the Eunuch, Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Get notes from July 14, 1 John 5:9-12) Philip fulfilled the Great Commission, he baptized him, Act 8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. Jesus gave us the instructions concerning baptism, we are to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Baptism identifies our salvation with the work of the Trinity “The name” is singular and denotes the Triune God God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are “The Name” God is “The Father” who gave “The Son,” Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. “The Son” is the Christ, Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Eternal Life is in His Name, Joh 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Page 3 of 5 Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Salvation is in His name, Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And there is no salvation in any other name, Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our salvation, Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, We have an eternal guarantee, Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. The presence of the Spirit is our guarantee that we will experience the fulness of our inheritance Another guarantee is that Jesus will go with us as we go to teach others about Him Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. This word translated “teaching” is not the same word found in verse 19 This word is the common word for teaching or instructing others We all need to be taught, because we all need to learn The first thing a Christian needs to learn is that they need to learn The school of Christian learning is never out of session, there are no spring breaks The Bible is our text book and class is to be held every day, Act 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Jesus said that we need to learn “all things” about Him in order to observe all things Don’t miss that little word “all,” Christians are to be taught “all” of the commands of Jesus “Observe” means to watch over something very closely in order to keep it and guard it It also has the meaning of protecting something by keeping watch over it Christians have the responsibility of learning all of the teachings of Christ We are to learn them in order to live them and to teach them to others We are also to learn them in order to stand guard over them and protect them There is no better way to guard the truths of Jesus than to share those truths with others We are told what to learn and share, whatsoever I have commanded you: “Whatsoever” does not allow us to pick and choose what we want to obey We are to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us We are to put into practice every truth that He has presented to us We have the promise of a very special relationship with Jesus when we obey Him and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. It actually reads, surely, I am with you, Jesus had already promised to be with us when we gather together, Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Now He promises to be with us as we are going to make disciples The “I” is emphatic, “I” even “I,” no one less than “I” myself Jesus came to the earth to be with us, Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. We know that Jesus is with us every day, He is there in good days or bad days Regardless of the troubles or difficulties that may come, Jesus will be with us But there is a special emphasis upon His promise here, He will be with us “as we are going” Disciples making disciples have the assurance of the presence and power of Jesus as we go We have no excuse for not going, we can still go, and He will still go with us The end of this present age is drawing near, it will come to an end one day Page 4 of 5 And the time will come when there will be no more “going” by the church We must be going today, now is our appointed time “to go” Has the day of the “Great Commission” become the day of the “Great Omission” Are we living in the day when the church no longer goes to the lost with the Gospel? The “Amen” that closed out the book of Matthew did not mean “No, I won’t go” To say “Amen” is to say, “I agree,” it has the meaning of, “Certainly I will go” Where are the Isaiah’s of today? Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Do we hear the voice of the Lord saying, “Disciples Go Make Disciples” Does God hear our voice say, “Here am I, send me We must go and we must go now, the song tells us what we must do, listen to it Page 5 of 5