Preached on Sunday, December 13, 2009
from
Matthew 28:18-20
Theme: The church is divinely equipped by King Jesus for the work of spreading His kingdom.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We come, this morning, to the closing message in our series through the Gospel of Matthew. And what a journey it has been! I certainly hope it won’t be our last time in this wonderful Gospel, because it has revealed so much to us about Jesus Christ.
Many years ago, the man who founded the Bible college I attended told his students that they ought to read from the Gospels at least once a day. “God the Father is daily conforming us into the image of the Savior,” he told them; “and it’s in the Gospels that we see what the Savior is like.” And as we’ve had 155 messages through the Gospel of Matthew together, I truly hope that—by the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit—we truly have all learned much together about what our wonderful Savior is like.
The particular purpose of the Gospel of Matthew has been to present Jesus Christ to us as the long-ago-promised, long-awaited King of the Jews. It began in the first chapter by giving us His royal pedigree. It went on to teach us, in chapters 2-4, about His royal preparation. In chapters 5-7, we were given His royal precepts in The Sermon on The Mount. Chapters 8-20 is where we find His royal personality put on display for us through the stories of His ministry and His teaching. Chapters 21-26 tell of His progress toward the city of Jerusalem—and of His rejection as King by the Jewish people. In chapter 27, we’re told of the cross where He died—bearing the title over His head, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (27:37).
The final chapter presents Him to us alive from the dead as our resurrected Redeemer. And it’s in the last few verses this chapter that we find King Jesus giving His final command to His subjects before returning to the Father. It’s a passage that we’ve come to know as “the Great Commission”:
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:16-20).
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If you were to sum-up the Great Commission, it would be through those five words found verse 19—”Make disciples of every nation”. A “disciple”, simply put, is a devoted student who follows an esteemed teacher closely so that he could learn how to imitate him. And the task of the Great Commission is to proclaim Jesus to people who don’t yet believe on Him, lead them to place their faith in Him, and to invite them to become His devoted followers.
There are lots of other things that we as a church could do in this world—and they may, to a limited degree, be good and beneficial things to do. And there’s certainly a lot of things that the people of this world think the church on earth ought to do. But there’s really only one great task that King Jesus has commissioned His church on earth to do—only one great endeavor that He will bless; and that, under His sovereign hand, will do the most to bless this world. It’s summed up in that simple phrase, “Make disciples of every nation”.
Now; I don’t know what you think might be important in life to do. But I don’t believe there’s anything else you could possibly do that is greater than your part in the work of the Great Commission! Nothing else could have the greatest impact for good; and nothing else could be as rewarding to do! Whatever else your secondary calling in life may be, dear brothers and sisters; your first calling is to fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples of every nation! You have great meaning and significance in this world! You are called by the Son of God to do your part in the greatest, most meaningful, most world-transforming enterprise in all of human history—that of making disciples of Jesus Christ! You and I ought to be thrilled!
But when you hear the Great Commission, maybe you’re a little more like the eleven disciples where at the time when they first heard it. Some, we’re told, “doubted”—or better, “hesitated” and “wavered”. It’s not only the greatest task that this world has ever seen; but it’s also the most overwhelming! How could you or I possibly be adequate for such a task? Who could even know where to begin?
That’s why I believe this very last passage in our study is worth our careful attention. In it, the Lord Jesus Christ not only gives us the commission, but also Himself tells us the provision He has made for our being able to keep it. This passage tells us how we have been divinely equipped by King Jesus for the work of spreading His kingdom.
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Now; when we read of this great task, one of the first things that might come to our minds is the fact of how unwelcome the gospel of Jesus Christ is in this world. When we hear that King Jesus calls us—His subjects—to go out and make disciples of “every nation”, we can’t help but think of how many “nations” reject His rule; and have closed their doors to the work of the spread of the gospel. And it’s not just nations. Many places and institutions within our own culture are openly hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ, have effectively slammed the door against it, and have said, “Not here! Access denied!”
But notice that, before He gives the Great Commission, our Lord says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (v. 18). And this means that no door may rightly be shut against us in our work of going out to fulfill the Great Commission, because . . .
1. WE HAVE THE KING’S OWN AUTHORITY (v. 18).
Do you notice how carefully Jesus says this? He doesn’t simply say, “I have all authority!” Rather, He says, “All authority has been given to Me . . .” In other words, His authority is not an authority that He takes to Himself; but was rather an authority that had been given to Him by the highest authority there could possibly be—that is, by His Father in heaven.
In Philippians 2:9-11, the apostle Paul gives a wonderful description of our Lord Jesus Christ. He writes of how He humbled Himself to the death of the cross on our behalf; and then says,
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
And notice how complete Jesus’ appointed authority is! We’re told that He hasn’t been simply “exalted”; but rather “highly exalted”. He hasn’t simply been given a great name; but rather a name that is “above every name”. We’re told that every knee will bow to Him; and that it doesn’t matter where that knee is found—whether in heaven, or on earth, or even under the earth! We’re told that every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; and it doesn’t matter in whose mouth that tongue may be!
Think of how heaven itself rejoices at the authority of Jesus! Revelation 5:12 tells us that, in the great worship service in the heavens at the revealing of the Lamb of God, the multitudes of angels cry out with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And in our passage this morning—as if to affirm what heaven will one day declare of Him—Jesus Himself says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
His authority supersedes all others. And you can see the practical significance of this to the Great Commission through the word found in the best Greek texts of Matthew’s Gospel—”therefore . . .” “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”, He says. “Go therefore . . . !” It’s in this great authority, dear brothers and sisters—this “all authority”—that you and I are to bear the gospel of Jesus everywhere we go—even into the places were the doors have been closed to it!
Now; I believe we are to be as respectful of the institutions of this world as we can be. As much as in us is, we are to honor human authority. In fact, we are to be model citizens wherever God has places us on this earth. We’re never to be belligerent toward human authority—and especially not as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. And what’s more, I don’t believe we’re ever to force the gospel on anyone who clearly doesn’t want it. Jesus’ own instruction to us was that, if anyone will not receive the words of the gospel, we’re to respect their wishes move on to those who will (Matthew 10:14).
But it becomes a different matter when human authority prohibits the church from proclaiming the Gospel at any time to those who do want to hear it! The apostle Peter—who himself heard the Lord speak the Great Commission—gives us the example of fulfilling it. After the Lord ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples, Peter boldly preached the gospel to his own people in Jerusalem. 3,000 Jewish people became disciples of Jesus Christ in just that one day! Then, shortly thereafter, Peter again proclaimed Jesus in the Jewish temple; and another 2,000 more of his kinsmen became disciples! That’s when the Jewish authorities arrested Peter, threatened him, and warned him and the others not to speak to anyone anymore about Jesus. The human authorities were seeking to slam the door against anyone else hearing the gospel from the apostles.
But Peter very boldly—but very respectfully—said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (4:19-20). He kept right on preaching, because he was under a higher mandate. And they arrested him again; and again, he very respectfully said, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (5:28). He who had all authority had said, “Go!”; and so, Peter went in respectful disobedience to those who said, “No!”
The point is that when we go out to obey the Great Commission, we’re not going in our own authority. We’re going in the name of Him who possesses all authority; and we must obey Him. And this means that we have been equipped with something very powerful in our work making disciples—and that is the Lord Jesus’ own divine authority!
All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth; therefore, when He says to go and make disciples, we can—and may—and will obey Him!
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Now; take a moment and consider that word, “Go . . .!” That’s how it’s translated in most of our Bibles. And if you’ve ever been to a mission’s conference, or to a church’s ‘missionary Sunday’ event, they often have a banner stretched up somewhere that says, “Go ye . . .!”—as if that’s the main command of the Great Commission.
But actually, the way it reads in the original language is more like this: “Going, therefore, make disciples of every nation . . .” The “going” is a subordinate idea to the main command. Jesus’ commission assumes the idea that we’re “going”; and in the course of our going, we’re to make disciples. Sometimes God commands His servants, in a clear and distinct way, “Go over to that place, or that country, and tell them about My Son”; and if He does, we must go. But God is also sovereign over the circumstances of our lives; and He may so work in some of us as to move us where He wants us without our knowing why or how—to the particular workplace, or neighborhood, or even family setting in which He wants us to tell others about His Son. But wherever we are—in all our “going” through the course of life—we’re to be about the work of making disciples.
But how do we do this? How do we go about this greatest of all enterprises? Praise God; that’s another provision we’re given by the Lord Jesus! We’re not left to wonder what to do in spreading the kingdom; because . . .
2. WE HAVE THE KING’S CLEAR DIRECTIONS (vv. 19-20a).
Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . .” How wise our King is! He didn’t make the work complicated at all. He didn’t tell us that if we go to this nation, we must make disciples in this way; but if we go to that nation, we must make disciples that way. He has given us a set of two basic instructions that are sufficiently clear; but are also amazingly broad and adaptable to every culture, or people group, or situation in which God’s people may find themselves “going”.
Notice, first, that Jesus says we are to be “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . .” To “baptize” is an act in which those who have heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and have personally placed their faith in Him as their Savior, are enabled by the church to publicly testify—to the church and to the world—that they have done so. They publicly identify themselves with Jesus Christ—and with those who also believe on Him—by going down into the water as a figure of His death and burial, and by coming up out of the water as a figure of His resurrection and life.
And so, one of the things that the Lord Jesus commands us to do with those who have believed is to instruct them to make the commitment ‘public’ by being baptized. There doesn’t have to be a long period of time between someone being saved and being baptized. Often in the Scripture, we read of people being baptized the very same day they first believed. But one of the important acts we are to do is to baptize those who do believe—and implicit in this is the work of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with them so that they can, in fact, believe!
Jesus says that we’re to baptize them “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”; and personally, I believe this means that we’re to baptize them in such a way as to recognize the gracious involvement of the whole Trinity in their salvation. You’ll notice that Jesus didn’t say, “in the names of . . .”; but rather, in the singular “name”. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are all one in their gracious work of saving a sinner. The Father graciously calls the sinner to salvation, and provides the atoning sacrifice of His Son. The Son graciously lays down His life as the atoning sacrifice that satisfies the debt of their sin. And the Holy Spirit graciously draws them to a personal faith in Jesus and applies His atoning sacrifice to their account. And so, our Lord calls us to baptize a new believer in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; because salvation is a gracious gift of all three Persons.
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Now; that’s the part of the Great Commission that has to do with the beginning point of making someone a disciple of Jesus Christ. The Lord made this first part broad enough and simple enough to fit every culture and people group in the world. The only two things that are needed are faith and water! Everyone who is baptized needs only to be baptized once; but as the church, we are to constantly be preaching Jesus, leading people to place their faith in Jesus, and helping them to make that faith public by being baptized.
But the next part of our work has to do with the growth of that disciple in Christ after they have publicly testified of their faith in Him; and it too is to be done constantly. Jesus also says, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”. I like to think of the ministry of “baptizing” as the Great Commission work of the church when ‘scattered’—that is, out there in the world, reaching lost people with the good news of Jesus; and of the ministry of “teaching” as the Great Commission work of the church ‘gathered’—that is, back together, teaching those they’ve reached how to go on and follow Jesus faithfully.
You might wonder what it is that we’re to teach them. And that’s an easy question to answer. It’s all that Jesus had taught the apostles—much of which, of course, we’ve just finished studying as we’ve gone through the Gospel of Matthew; but all of which is provided to us in the whole of Scripture.
And please note a couple of things in this. First, note that Jesus is very specific about what we’re to teach those who are baptized into the kingdom. We’re to teach what He has commanded. In fact, we’re to teach “all things” that He commanded. We’re to leave nothing out. There’s lots of very interesting things that we could teach the world; and that the people of this world would love to hear from us. But there’s really only one thing that we’re to be teaching, and that’s all the things that Jesus has commanded. We might be tempted to leave out some of the hard sayings and demanding commands; but He tells us here to leave out nothing! Let’s be sure we stay true to our calling, and teach all that He commanded us to teach!
And second, note that Jesus is very specific about what we’re to teach people to do with what we’re to teach them. He says that we’re to teach them to “observe”—or “keep”, or “put into practice”—the things He commanded! That’s so very important! We’re not to simply fill people’s heads with knowledge; but to help lead them to faithful obedience—to an actual conformity of their lives to the commands of Jesus Christ!
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Those two things—”baptizing” and “teaching”—are what we’re to be doing as a church in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. And I’d be very remiss if I didn’t pause right now to ask a few things.
First of all, have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you consciously placed your faith in Him as your Savior and Lord? I invite you to do so this very morning! And if you have already done so—and I praise God if you have—a follow-up question would be, Have you declared it to everyone else by being baptized? If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then it’s a matter of obedience to the Great Commission on your part that you publicly declare your faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. I hope you will make it your intention to do so as soon as possible.
Second, are you doing your part in the broader work of the Great Commission that leads to baptism? That is, are you sharing your faith with others? Are you praying for the salvation of the lost people around you? And are you doing what you can to support those who share the gospel—not only here, but on the mission field? You may not be called to be an evangelist; but all of us are called to evangelize. And all of us are called to support those who do the work of reaching the lost.
And finally, are you supporting the broader work of the Great Commission that builds up those who have been brought into the faith? That is, are you supporting the teaching ministry of the church? Are you doing what you sincerely can to bring friends and family members, and your children and grandchildren—and even yourself!—to the Sunday School classes, and Bible studies, and teaching ministries of the church? Are you praying for the preaching of God’s word on Sunday? And are you even being sensitive to—and obedient to—the Holy Spirit’s call if He is asking you to begin sharing His word through the teaching ministries of the church family? We constantly need people who will take on the task of teaching a Sunday School class, or leading a youth Bible study, or a small discipleship group. It may even be that the Holy Spirit is calling you to even greater fields of ministry in His word. But even if you don’t feel called to teach, are you doing what you can to support those He has called?
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Someone has once pointed out what we might call the “self-perpetuating” aspect of the Great Commission. When Jesus first gave it to the eleven apostles, He commanded them to make disciples of the nations; “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”. That means that among the things that they would be teaching the people of the nations to observe would be the Great Commission itself!
That means that every succeeding generation of believers will be called upon to keep obeying the Great Commission. And that leads us to one more wonderful resource we find at the end of the very last verse; that in all ages in which the church is to keep this commission, and in all places it is to go . . .
3. WE HAVE THE KING’S ASSURING PRESENCE (v. 20b).
Jesus doesn’t give us this Great Commission, only to slap us on the back and wish us success as He sends us on our way. He makes this glorious promise: “. . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
In the original language, Jesus puts the matter in an emphatic way. He says, “And lo, I—I am with you . . .” He makes sure we understand that, when we go out in obedience to His commission, He Himself goes with us. He also puts the matter in a very specific way; saying, literally, that He is with us “all the days . . .” He isn’t with us just some of the time; but every day that we go out in His name—every day of trial and tribulation that we may encounter in His service—He Himself is still with us. And He even makes sure we know that this is as true for us today as it was for the apostles; because He promises His glorious presence all the way “to the end of the age”. Even up to the time when the very last of His chosen ones hears the gospel and believes, and when all His people are finally in His presence, and when this present age is brought to a close, He will still be faithful to go with His people as they go to ‘make disciples of every nation’.
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So; we’ve come, at long last, to the end of our study of the Gospel of Matthew! But I can’t quit until I show you just one more thing.
Just as the Gospel of Matthew began with the promise given—way back in Matthew 1:23—of a Child born to the virgin Mary whose name would be called Immanuel; so this Gospel ends. Immanuel means “God with us”; and isn’t it wonderful that our King closes His Great Commission with the promise to us, “. . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”?
Those who faithfully go out into the world to declare the glories of Immanuel will find that He will always be true to His name.