The Great Commission — We are to Go In Power

In five short weeks a team of 15 church members will head for Billings, Montana to work with the Racer’s Set Free Church. It’s a small congregation of about 25-30 people located on the east side of Billings. We will be helping the church with a block party, backyard bible club, and some physical maintenance around the church building. We are going because Jesus commanded his church to witness within its community and beyond its community.

I believe in the Church being on mission. I believe that, because our Savior gave His church a commission — we call it The Great Commission. The dictionary defines a commission as the act of granting certain powers of authority to carry out a particular task or duty. Jesus has authorized his church — that means us — to preach the gospel, to teach the Bible, and share our testimony with everyone. I think that I can tell you with all assurance that there will never be a time in your life where you’ll need to pray, “Dear Father, is it your will or not, that I witness to the guy in the cubicle next to me at work? I’d really like to know your thoughts on this.”

Mission work in the early church was a joyous privilege and not a burdensome duty. It was the proclamation that God in Christ had come into the world to save sinners. Telling others about the passion and the triumph of Jesus Christ is the response of transformed people, turned on by the Holy Spirit.

The commands of our Lord Jesus to the early church were not veiled in metaphor or hyperbole. No Christian can read what we've come to call the Great Commission and ask, "Now just exactly what did Jesus mean by that?" This morning, I want to preach the first in a series of messages on The Great Commission. Each sermon will be based on one of the five passages where the Commission is found. It is recorded in each of the four gospels and also in the Book of Acts. Each reading is just a little bit different, but in those differences we see the five priorities we must have as a church.

The First Great Commission — Matthew 28:19-20 — Reveals Our First Priority Going in Power

I. WE ARE TO GO IN POWER

“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.”” (Matthew 28:19–20, ESV)

1. Jesus told His disciples that all authority had been given to Him (v. 18)

2. Jesus reminds us that we do not evangelize in our own power and ability

a. it is not the authority of a church or an individual Christian who can change a sinner's life, but the power of the Son of God

3. when Jesus uses the word "lo" (or “behold”) preceding the promise of His eternal presence, He is saying "Look, ... give me your undivided attention ... I'm going to say something extremely important!"

a. he calls us to be aware of the magnitude of a great biblical truth

b. God is with us 24-7, wherever we go

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16–17, ESV)

A. THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS US WITH A HOLY UNCTION

1. it is the Spirit who give us the earnest desire to witness and share our faith

a. if you don’t have that desire you have one of two problems; either

1) ... you are not a Christian, and the Spirit is not operative in your life, or ...

2) ... you are a Christian, but indifference has quenched the Holy Spirit in your life

b. when we walk in the Spirit, one of the fruits of that relationship will be the desire to share our faith

2. on the Friday of our Lord’s crucifixion, the Apostle Peter had thrice denied that he ever new this man named Jesus

a. after Jesus is buried, we find him hiding in the Upper Room with most of the other disciples

b. forty days later, we find him preaching to the crowds and telling them:

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Acts 2:32–33, ESV)

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”” (Acts 2:36, ESV)

c. what made the difference in his and the lives of the other disciples?

4. it was the empowering of the Holy Spirit that came upon the Church on the Day of Pentecost

a. Peter and the disciples were now filled with a Spirit-anointing to share their faith

B. THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS US WITH A HOLY BOLDNESS

“Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:17–20, ESV)

1. the same Holy Spirit that gives the believer in China boldness to testify of Jesus when he is being persecuted, is the same Holy Spirit that will give you boldness to witness to the waitress who takes your order at Applebees

C. THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS US TOWARD HOLY LIVING

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

1. folks — let me be honest — most Americans want just enough of God to make them feel good, but not enough of Him to radically change their lives

a. Americans want Christianity Light and not true holiness of heart and life

ILLUS. According to the latest report from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, a full 69% of U.S. adults self-identify as Christian. But that same poll also discovered that Americans are woefully inconsistent in their commitment to spiritual disciplines and activities. The report concluded: "Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket. Because of such activities, they convince themselves that they are people of genuine faith. But when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, and to allowing Him to change their character and lifestyle, most people stop short. We want to be ''spiritual' and we want to have God's favor, but we're not sure we want Him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we've worked so hard to produce."

ILLUS. Christian pollster George Barna writes: “’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”

2. the reason most Christians are never asked to make a defense of the Gospel or give an account for the hope that is in them, is because they’ve been unwilling to sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts

a. when we get serious about the Lordship of Christ in our lives, others will take note, and we will find ourselves compelled by the Spirit to share our faith

. . . We Are to Go in the in Power

II. WE ARE TO PRAY FOR POWER

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:16–19, ESV)

1. Paul reminds the Ephesian believers of the unimaginable power available to believers

a. through Christ God has put the immeasurable greatness of his power at work in the life of believers

b. that power is expressed in a number of examples

1) 1st, the immeasurable greatness of his power is expressed in raising Jesus from the dead

a) with all our modern technology men cannot reproduce this feat — we cannot reanimate a three-day-old corpse let alone glorify it

2) 2nd, the immeasurable greatness of his power is expressed in seating Christ at the Father’s right hand where he now exercises authority, power, and dominion over all things both present and future

ILLUS. Abraham Kuyper, one-time Prime Minister of the Netherlands, a theologian and a journalist, speaking to a university assembly, said “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord over all, does not exclaim, ‘Mine’!”

a) Jesus has every right to look at all things and say Mine!

b) he can say that because All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me

3) 3rd, the immeasurable greatness of his power is expressed when we are born again

a) raising a dead body is child’s play to God compared to raising a dead soul

b) when we were dead in trespasses and sin ... when we were loyal to the prince of the power of the air ... when we were sons of disobedience living according to the passions of the flesh ... God Who is rich in mercy and love made us alive together with Christ

2. so here is the power of God at work in the life of Christ, and the lives of all who call Upon the name of Christ

a. this is not just power, but extraordinary humongous power

b. it is power the compels us to go, and empowers us to go into all the world with the gospel

A. THE POWER OF GOD AT WORK IN US

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” (Ephesians 3:20, KJV)

1. Ephesians 3:20-21 is a doxology — a short hymn of praise that honors and glorifies God

a. but biblical doxologies teach us important truths

b. again Paul speaks of God’s extraordinary ability

1) God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think

c. but notice how He chooses to do it — according to the power at work in us

2. the power at work in us is the Holy Spirit — the Third Person of the Godhead

a. it’s a personal but also a corporate power

1) the Spirit indwells each of us, and together He indwells Christ’s Church

b. it’s a power designed to energize and activate his Church with power to accomplish his plan on earth

1) this is the core of what the church is — the Holy Spirit descending upon believers, convening a congregation, and sending the church out into the world to influence it toward Christ

c. the finger prints, so-to-speak, of the Holy Spirit are everywhere in the life of the early church

1) in fact, a better title for the Acts of the Apostles is the Acts of the Holy Spirit who is mentioned 83 times in forty verses in the book

ILLUS. If we could go back in time to interview the Apostles and ask, “How did you decide to leap over all traditional boundaries and launch a mission to the Samaritans?” the Apostles would respond, “We didn’t. We didn’t decide, plan or program any of the Samaritan mission. The Holy Spirit dragged us out of our churches and into that mission.”

As you read through the book of Acts it is apparent that the church is being dragged kicking and screaming into ever expanding areas of ministry, breathlessly attempting to keep up with the movements of the Holy Spirit.

2) that’s evangelism; that’s missions — attempting to keep up and not lag too far behind God’s relentless, restless movement to retake the world

a) that’s what VBS and the Billings mission trip are all about

3. we are to pray for God’s power to not only energize us, but we are to pray that the Spirit energizes our congregation to do the work of God in our community and beyond

ILLUS. William Carey, the first Baptist foreign missionary — considered the father of American missions — spoke these words, “Expect great things from God; Attempt great things for God.”

III. OUR FIRST PRIORITY SHIFT: WE MUST CEASE BEING PROGRAM-DEPENDENT AND RETURN TO BEING SPIRIT-ORIENTED

“Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” (Acts 13:1–3, ESV)

1. folks, there’s something in me that says this is the pattern we need to get back to in discerning the Lord’s will for our church when it comes to accomplishing The Great Commission

a. as Southern Baptists, we’ve become exceedingly program dependent

b. now, I’ve got nothing against programs per se — Sunday School is the program we use for teaching the Bible in our church, and it needs to remain a priority

2. however, we’ve become so accustomed to ‘church in a box’ that we’ve forgotten that God has placed this congregation — indeed every congregation — in a unique place, at a unique time in history, to accomplish a unique ministry in this world

a. what do I mean by that?

b. our convention is ruled by pragmatism – we look at what works in other places and assume it will work everywhere

ILLUS. Long before Rick Warren wrote his best seller, The Purpose Driven Life, he wrote a book titled, The Purpose Driven Church. In it, Warren tells of the things they did in Southern California to make church attractive to Southern Californians. He threw away his suits and ties and bought the loudest and wildest Hawaiian shirts he could find, a bunch of khaki dockers and loafers — no socks. And that’s Warren’s ‘Sunday best’ that he preaches in. They did away with the hymn books, and went to nothing but praise choruses displayed on large screens. They did a demographic study to discover the characteristics of the typical Southern Californian — what they liked and didn’t like. They labeled their composite person “Saddleback Sam,” — Saddleback being the community they were located in — and that’s the group they targeted for evangelism. And it worked, and Saddleback grew into a megachurch that has 25,000 in attendance every week.

Thousands of pastors across the county read that book and said “Wow, if those things will work for him, they’ll work for me.” And they tried those things and got fired because what worked for Saddleback Community Church in Southern California may not work for Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in rural central Iowa! What they didn’t realize is that Rick Warren and the core group that made up their initial church plant, prayed and fasted and sought the Lord’s will as to what they needed to do in order to reach their community for Jesus Christ.

3. we will never discover what God has for us when we are program-dependent and we neglect to pray and seek the Lord’s face when it comes to evangelism and missions

a. may God grant us a spirit of repentance from our pragmatism and may we find a renewed vitality as we seek to become a spirit-oriented congregation that prays and fasts to discover God’s will for our missions and evangelistic agendas

4. missions and evangelism was and is the cornerstone of church growth

a. every church ought to be reaching out to its community, and beyond its community regardless of its size

ILLUS. In C.S. Lewis' book, The Screwtape Letters, the author uses parody to teach the church some important lessons. The central character of the book is an old senior demon by the name of Screwtape. He is helping to groom his nephew, a young inexperienced demon named Wormwood. In one encounter Screwtape advises his nephew to keep the church tiny and self-centered. Says Screwtape, "We want the Church to be small not only that fewer men may know the Enemy but also that those who do may acquire the uneasy intensity and the defensive self-righteousness of a secret society or a clique."

b. unfortunately, many churches have swallowed Screwtape's advise

1) they have indeed become cliquish country clubs for snobbish saints rather than sanctuaries for sinners in need of salvation

I believe in the Church being on mission. I want you to believe in it to. I want you to believe in it, not because I do, but because you believe our Savior gave His church a commission — a Great Commission, and it must be our priority!

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