A New Life

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

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 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.”

Isn’t it fitting that today, as we are coming out of Easter, that we celebrate baptism - the symbolism of the death, burial, and the resurrection of Christ and also the hope of resurrection to us as believers today.

The disciples had been with Christ almost 3 years, they had seen the teaching, the preaching, the casting out of demons, and even the healing of sick and raising of dead. You would think there would be an excitement among the disciples, knowing what Christ had told them.

Mark 8:31 ESV

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Yet, seeing the mob come for Christ, they scattered from the garden and hid, fearing they too would be arrested. While Peter and John stayed around during the trial, we do not know where the rest were. Even during the crucifixion, we are only told

Luke 23:49 ESV

49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

We find the women observing where He was buried, would come back to anoint the body, would run to Peter and John. The other disciples continued to live in fear, coming together to hide in the upper room, but having enough faith to come back to Galilee where Jesus had told them He would meet them after the resurrection.

John 20:19 ESV

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples and stayed on this earth for 40 days after His resurrection, calming the fears and dispelling the doubts of his death and resurrection. Just before Jesus ascended back into heaven, He had a message to the disciples and to us today.

Authority

Matthew 28:18 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Jesus establishes His authority, and fulfils prophecy.

Daniel 7:13–14 ESV

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Jesus’ authority is what will set the basis for everything else that follows. We often will say “I trusted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior”, and while it is true, we must not miss this important point. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords regardless of whether we trust or acknowledge Him or not.

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is THE Authority, and one day will be proclaimed “Lord” by every tongue. The question with this is, will you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior now, or will you be forced to confess Him as Lord when it’s too late?

Obeying the Command

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

19 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,

20a teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Go. It doesn’t mean sit, ponder, contemplate, form a committee, and discuss in perpetuity.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) (Go)

go \ˈgō\ verb

1: to move on a course

2: to move out of or away from a place expressed or implied

3 to take a certain course or follow a certain procedure

Notice, Jesus was moving the disciples from the place they were and to a place He intended for them. It is by His authority that He gives the command to follow His course. What is it He calls us to do?

Make disciples

Baptize

Father

Son

Holy Spirit

Teach

Evangelize

He does not suggest it, give us an option, or make us comfortable with this command. We can do “church”; serve in roles, tithe and give offerings regularly, but still fail to make disciples.

To be a disciple, we not only accept His teaching, principles, and sacrifice BUT includes assists in spreading the doctrines of others. Unfortunately, most of us in the church are just busy. We are busy doing “things” around the church and having little to show for it.

Dawson Trotman in his book “Born to Reproduce” writes “The Gospel spread to the known world during the first century without radio, television or the printing press, because [the writings of the apostles] produced men who were reproducing. But today we have a lot of pew-sitters—people think that if they are faithful in church attendance, put good-sized gifts into the offering plate and get people to come, they have done their part.… If I were a minister of a church and had deacons or elders to pass the plate and choir members to sing, I would say, “Thank God for your help. We need you. Praise the Lord for these extra things you do,” but I would keep pressing home the big job—“Be fruitful and multiply.” All these other things are incidental to the supreme task of winning a man or woman to Jesus Christ and then helping him or her to go on.”

Christ’s command is not a call of comfort form most Christians. We are to GO. From the beginning, Christ told His disciples to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men. Now He tells them (and us) that to be that fisher, we have to also be a disciple-maker.

How is it we do that?

First, we share the Word. This is absolutely foundational to making disciples. We speak about the gospel as we live according to the gospel. The Spirit of God lives inside God’s people so that they can bear witness to the gospel to the ends of the earth. The evangelistic strategy of the church is built upon every member of the church engaging the world with the gospel.

We don’t just stop when they respond to the Gospel, we baptize them. The second part of making a disciple is we follow with the symbol of baptism, identifying the person with Christ and including them in the body of Christ. Jesus goes even further to explain how we are to baptize - in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is Jesus’ command and if it was good enough for Him, it’s good enough for me.

On the other hand, If you are a follower of Christ and have not been baptized, you are living in direct disobedience to Christ. It’s not that one has to be baptized in order to become a Christian, but once you are a Christian, your public declaration of faith in Christ necessarily involves baptism. To neglect baptism is to dishonor and disobey Christ.

Jesus commands a third requirement of a Christian. we teach the Word. Jesus speaks of “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you”. We don’t just receive the Word; we reproduce the Word. God has certainly gifted some in the church to teach. However, every disciple of Jesus should saturate their words with God’s Word. Our conversations ought to be filled with Scripture as we teach people all that Christ has taught us.

Fourth and finally, making disciples means that we serve the world. Jesus speaks of making disciples of “all nations,” a phrase which in the original refers not simply to nations or countries as we usually think of them, but rather to tribes, families, clans, and peoples, what we call “people groups” today. So this is not just a general command to make disciples among as many people as possible. Rather, this is a specific command to make disciples among every people group in the world.

Depending on His Presence

Matthew 28:20 (ESV)

20b And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Finally, we are told we are not left alone. We have an assurance that Christ will be with us forever. Be encouraged, follower of Christ, for this mission is not based on who we are or what we can do. This mission is assured based on Christ’s presence through His Spirit. Rather than being based on what we can do, this mission is based on who Jesus is and what He is able to do in and through our lives. Christ is able to do “beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph 3:20).

Together, let’s experience the power of His presence with us. We want to be a part of something that is beyond us, something that requires supernatural strength. We don’t want to be preoccupied with programs and practices that we can manage on our own. We should be desperate for the power of Jesus.

We know that obedience to the Great Commission will not be easy, and we know it will be costly. But we also know that it will be worth it. Jesus will return and His reward will be infinitely greater than any cost we have paid.

Closing

Today, we have seen the faithful obedience of baptism after salvation. But church, we have another step in supporting this family today. Teaching. We are given the command to mentor, teach, and grow this young man. Let us take this mission with the same desire, sincerity, and diligence as Christ gave it to us.