The Great Commission

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 3 Lesson 6

This week in Sunday school, we look at one of Jesus’ last declarations on earth: the Great Commission. What exactly did Jesus command his disciples in the Great Commission? How does the command apply to Christians today? And what so often prevents Christians from fulfilling the Great Commission? We’ll consider these questions and more.

Our text for Sunday school will be Matthew 28:16-20.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

say about the resurrection next week but today we’re going consider one of the last events of Jesus earthly ministry and that’s the Great Commission Jesus is Great Commission to his disciples now this is a well-known passage probably many of you know this passage well but is it very well considered have we really thought through the implications of what Jesus says here to his disciples it gives a command do we obey this command today something that we want to consider as we look more closely at this text our agenda is simple we want to observe interpret and apply Matthew Matthew 28 verses 16 to 20 we want to consider what the text says we want to make sure we interpret it accurately I want to consider how it applies to us and when we consider application we also want to consider what prevents Christians what prevents even us from a bang our Lord in this crucial area of the Great Commission let’s pray now a great God I pray that you would help him to be able to explain this and help people be able to understand it or do you have given a great Commission let her pay that people be encouraged and motivated to fulfill it Jesus name Amen okay please open your Bibles to Matthew 28 but many times did his disciples in Acts chapter 1 verse 3 Luke says this kind of in summary of what happened after Jesus rose from the dead acts 1:3 Luke says to these his disciples he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God so there were many appearances from Jesus after he rose from the dead Answers in Genesis says that there are at least 10 appearances and we do see a number of them mention in the scriptures what was Jesus doing these different appearances according to acts he was giving proof of his resurrection and he was teaching his disciples more concerning the kingdom of God now these appearances included appearances to women we even mentioned last time talking about the resurrection how Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and Mary the other Mary and that was one of his resurrection appearances it included appearances to his disciples in Jerusalem we hear about that also in the Gospels how they were in a locked room they were afraid of the Jews and then Jesus suddenly appears in their midst and he says notice that I have a real body I’m not a spirit and he speaks to them Jesus appearances after the resurrection also included his appearance at his ascension back to heaven Jesus was on the earth for forty days and then he ascended back to heaven now where does the Bible say our from where does the Bible say Jesus ascended the Mount of Olives a vacation not far from Jerusalem near Bethany Luke tells us in both his gospel and in the book of Acts that Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem and that’s significant because even there we hear he’s going to come back in the same manner he went to heaven in a cloud and he’s going to come back on the cloud and he’s even going to step foot on the Mount of Olives that’s his dissent but though that’s true regarding Jesus’s ascension where especially in the book of Matthew does Jesus keep telling his disciples they are to meet him after his resurrection Galilee he says you remember even from last week go to my brethren tell them to meet me in Galilee and Galilee to Jesus was apparently a special meeting site post resurrection and I think we can see what that specialness involved when we look at Matthew 28 because Matthew tells us what Jesus announced in Galilee that’s now read our text Matthew 28 verses 16 to 20 just a short section here let’s read it carefully Matthew 28 verses 16 to 20 but the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated when they saw him they worshiped him but some were doubtful Jesus came up 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 the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age let’s observe these verses 12 – Judas that this doesn’t rule out more people also going to this location it’s possible and the MacArthur Study Bible people at once this is one occasion after Jesus rose from the dead this instance here recorded in Matthew 28 would fit that occasion this site would have fit a large group and was away from Jerusalem the disciples could gather there and large numbers or safely I think there’s a very good chance that this the the appearance of to 500 and more of Jesus’s disciples that would basically be almost all of them if not all of them that would be here what we’re being described in Matthew 28 so certainly the eleven are involved but possibly many more remember Jesus doesn’t have a huge number of disciples but more than the eleven so the disciples gather and notice where they get it it says they went to Galilee to the mountain and this is interesting many see this passage as describing Jesus’s words right before his ascension but the Ascension doesn’t take place in Galilee it takes place as we saw in near Jerusalem and though Matthew says to Galilee and to the mountain those who see this passage describing the Ascension they say the Matthew is just condensing the record he doesn’t bother to explain that they went to Galilee and then went back to Jerusalem to the mountain and it’s true that there is some similarity between what we hear in Luke from his gospel and from the book of Acts regarding the Ascension there was true that there’s some similarity between what’s recorded there and what’s recorded here both words from Jesus take place on a mountain both feature a certain commissioning from Jesus to go out into the world for his sake but the conversations in both instances are not entirely the same in Luke’s record which we don’t see featured in our passage Jesus talks them about the Holy Spirit and receiving the Holy Spirit and being empowered by the Holy Spirit Jesus also talks to them about the kingdom the disciples say is it now that you’re going to restore the kingdom to Israel we don’t hear anything about that here I’m over at the Ascension Jesus specifically tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem you just say you’re going to be my witnesses in these various places but stay in Jerusalem until you’ve been empowered we don’t hear that here now it is there’s something to that that line of reasoning that Matthew is just condensing but as we’ve already seen especially over the last couple weeks Jesus has been telling his disciples to meet him in Galilee Matthew’s been kind of building up this meeting in Galilee and so it’d be strange for him to do that and the meeting doesn’t actually take place in Galilee that he describes so my view is that this is not specifically Jesus’s Ascension it’s certainly close to Jesus’s ascension it’s some of the final words from Jesus but this is instead a special meeting from Jesus within the 40 days in Galilee on one in the mountains there so we see where who gathered where they gathered and notice what they do when they see Jesus it says they worshiped him but some doubted he was also a very poignant phrase clearly Jesus as Messiah and God risen from the dead he deserves worship and they appropriately give it to him but why don’t why are they downing shouldn’t they have believed by now this is as others have noted a kind of as a side note this is a great testimony to the veracity of the Word of God this is not trying to make the disciples look like really perfect faith filled people even after Jesus’s resurrection the struggling for his ascension there’s some doubt in the disciples indeed we can see a theme throughout the Gospels that is that at the resurrection post resurrection the disciples are very slow to believe remember Jesus’s conversation whether with some of the disciples on the road to Emmaus he rebukes them for being so slow of heart to believe everything that the prophets had said and to believe in the resurrection of the Messiah but we can we can see how realistic that these are not people who were gullible who are just super super filled with faith they are they’re slow they they had faith but it was a weak faith and even at Jesus gathering in Galilee there’s some doubting you know this word for doubt here is the same word used from Jesus to Peter when Peter is walking on the water toward Jesus and then he looks at the wind and starts to sink and Jesus pulls him up again and then says why did you doubt or why did you we could also say why did you waver it’s the same thing happening here at this meeting site in Galilee that’s not unlike our own experience right we have faith in Jesus but there are times that even we can doubt even after all we’ve learned all we see all that God has done in our lives we can still waver we can still down now what’s also very intriguing here is that even though the disciples really shouldn’t doubt and Jesus could have rebuked them for doing that saying hey what are you guys doing doubting why are you wavering it doesn’t do that he would have full rights to do that but what he instead says to his disciples a words of encouragement and also command let’s look now Jesus’s words verses 18 to 20 Jesus first says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth now that’s very comprehensive there’s the word all that includes everything so he has all authority and then this extra emphasis all authority in heaven and on earth and now that’s a type of phrase where you kind of got two things being two extremes stretched out and you say I’ve got this side I’ve got this side and I’ve got everything in between literarily we call this at Mare ISM let me say yeah you say you have total total inclusion of something by mentioning both ends it’s like saying he knows the subject from A to Z doesn’t just know a doesn’t just nosy he knows everything in between well or he’s handsome from head to toe it’s not just his head not just his toe but everything in between same thing with Jesus statement here he says I’ve got authority in heaven and on earth and everything in between everything else that’s included within those two things Jesus says emphatically I have total authority I have been given it anything you can think of I have authority over therefore notice that word in verse 19 being there at the beginning therefore what does the word therefore tell us about the relationship between verse 18 and verse 19 can you say that again it does logically follow if Jesus has all authority if he’s been given all authority and what should the disciples do obey exactly this is to be a reason for their obedience and motivation for their obedience this is not some idle thing that Jesus says by the way I have all authority no it’s intimately connected with the command is about to give his disciples therefore shows us that and what is the command has multiple parts notice it in verse 19 go therefore and make disciples of all the nations it’s the first part it’s really two commands here first part is go kind of interesting word here it is a participle it’s got an ING verb that functions like an adjective you really couldn’t translate it here be going it’s a participle with a command type sense we don’t normally would say something like that be going but that’s really what Jesus is saying to his disciples the disciples are to be marked by a certain action and that action is going there to be departing from the place where they are and it would be traveling to the place where they need to be that’s the first command from Jesus go be marked by going and what are you gonna do when you go second part is make disciples make other followers of me and from whom Jesus says of all the nations so to them that would have meant Jews Samaritans Syrians Greeks Romans Africans Indians barbarians etc Jesus says I command you be going out and make disciples from all of these peoples and then there are two descriptions that follow that give us more information about what obeying these commands will entail – more ing verbs first is baptizing them he just says baptizing them in the name and we’ll get to that just a second baptism we’ve seen this baptism was featured earlier in Jesus’s ministry and indeed in John the Baptist ministry what did baptism symbolize ok certainly the baptism that Jesus is commanding here is gonna involve identification with Christ but even before we get to that when John was doing his baptism for instance what was and people are being baptized what were they symbolically declaring in that baptism repentance even if even called that a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins not that actually washing yourself on the water cause your sins to be forgiven but it was symbolic of repentance of cleansing of new life and so those concepts are going to carry over into what Jesus is commanding his disciples here but there’s also something new and it gets to what the first answer was regard a bath baptism because Jesus says baptizing them in a certain name in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and notice the name the word name here is singular but we have three reference to that name is this significant some people have highlighted it as significant as even an implicit affirmation of the Trinity and that’s possible but we might not be able to make too much out of this this same construction of using a singular named for multiple reference it does appear in the Old Testament and not in relation to God and Deuteronomy 18:20 when speaking of false gods and false prophets and it refers to the name of various false gods named singular false gods plural so just because there’s a singular name here in three references not necessarily slam dunk proof of the Train nevertheless I do think that the fact that Jesus says baptize them in the name of Father Son and Holy Spirit does point us to the Trinity there are many commands in the Old Testament many words in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament the refer to things happening or things being commanded in the name of one person Yahweh the Lord God but here it’s not merely Yahweh or God or even Jesus Christ that’s mentioned here it’s three persons baptism is to be done in the name of three persons Father Son and Holy Spirit there is indeed a appointing to the Trinity here because all persons are put onto the same level God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit and there’s no distinction between them here they they are all on the same level of Godhead so I do think there is an implicit affirmation of our triune God here but they are to be baptized in the name or into the name of God and that does have the idea of symbolically assigning one or attaching oneself to the person in whose name you are baptized so these new disciples as they’re being made according to Jesus commissioned they are being symbolically assigned were attached or being given over to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit and being given over in this way they receive whatever being attached to God means and that includes of course salvation so it is indeed identification with Christ and identification with the Father and identification with the Holy Spirit so Jesus says you are to be baptizing them but you also to be teaching teaching them to observe all that I commanded you here’s the second manner ing verb that informs the command the site was our to teach the new disciples about the commands and words of Christ and for what purpose that these new disciples might observe these commands and we think observe here we might think of looking or glancing that’s not the idea here this is more like observing a rule or observing a holiday we could translate a keeping that they may keep the commandments that they may guard the commandments and may put the commandments into their own lives that’s the point of your teaching teach them so that they can keep the commandments that I’ve given you so in summary this this section of command from Jesus first two commands go out make disciples and then two aspects of making disciples to keep in mind it would be baptizing them in the name of the Trinity and you would be teaching them everything that Jesus has commanded but then one final encouragement from Jesus doesn’t descend with a command he then says and lo what slow we don’t use that word that’s just another word for behold I whenever you see behold in the Bible think vividness he’s calling on his audience to see something vividly see it he says see what behold I am with you and when this be a great concern to the disciples we’ve already seen before the cross and and after the cross that settles are really concerned about Jesus leaving and John tells us in his gospel before they crossed it disciples are really sad that Jesus said that he was going away and he has to keep comforting them and consoling them I’m gonna return I’m not gonna leave you forever I’m gonna send a helper after the cross when the women see Jesus risen from the dead they literally cling to him and you can imagine their situation had been Allah Jesus they love Jesus he’s been the one who’s taught them and provided for them and they’re really concerned that once he leaves how are they gonna be able to go on don’t leave us Jesus we need you what are we gonna do without you but Jesus says behold I am with you and for how long Jesus says always literally all the days every day that you live every day that there is I am with you until when I mean always as always but Jesus again being more emphatically says even to the end of the age what’s that that’s the end of history to the end of time to the culmination of all of God’s redemptive plans to the time of Christ’s return to the time of final judgment on the world I am with you even until then Jesus says there’s no time I am NOT with you o disciples Jesus declares now many have noted that Matthew’s Gospel is bracketed by the same concept in both the beginning and the end the last words of the Gospel of Matthew are Jesus saying I am with you always how does this parallel something we hear in the very beginning of Matthew’s Gospel chapter 1 there’s something about someone being with others remember there’s a certain announcement made about Jesus as he was not yet born they said it’s going to fulfill something fulfill a prophecy his name shall be called what will be called Emmanuel which means God with us and that’s exactly what we see in the Gospel of Matthew God with us was to come God with us came and was literally with us and at the very end of the gospel God says I am always with you I think that too speaks to a fundamental need that we we all have we need God we need God with us and Jesus compasses disciples by saying I am always with you right so we observed these things better passage let’s now consider some interpretation questions first Jesus says he’s been given all authority who gave it to him it had to be the father no one else has all authority the father gives all authority to the son and that’s what Jesus says this happened father is giving me all authority so does this mean that Jesus didn’t have all authority before that he didn’t receive all authority until after his resurrection well we’ve been through this kind of question before but let me just remind you Jesus never stopped being God but he temporarily laid aside his divine privileges and submitted to a life as a man relying humbly on the father and relying on the Holy Spirit but he never really lost all authority though he laid it aside Philippians 2:8 and 9 says something similar regarding Jesus’s incarnation speaking about his glory Philippians 2:8 and 9 Paul writes being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross for this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him then which is above every name so Paul makes clear in Philippians Jesus was glorified as a result of what he accomplished on earth but does that mean he wasn’t glorified before that he wasn’t glorious before perhaps he wasn’t even God until after his resurrection it had been some culture said that but John 17:5 doesn’t let us go there Jesus in his high priestly prayer to the Father says something extremely poignant John 17:5 now father glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was Jesus was declaring I’m not gonna be receiving a new glory I’m merely going to be resuming the glory I already had father glorify me with that glory as it is was his authority so it is with Jesus’s glory he’s always been infinitely glorious but his glory was veiled for a time while on earth he emerged from his work of redemption on earth even more glorious in a sense because he demonstrated in time something that was always part of his nature always part of his glorious character his love his humility his devotion to the Father so what kind of seat – what sound like contradictory truths but they’re not really Jesus and a sense received new glory as a result of what he did on earth and in another sense he didn’t receive any new glory at all he mainly resumed the glory or his glory was affirmed the glory he already had was affirmed by what he accomplished honor what he accomplished in time and in history same with his authority Jesus when he received Authority it’s only affirmed what he already had before and had temporarily laid aside but it was given back to him by the father Jesus has always been gone now Oh Danny you want to say something yeah we’ll talk about that in just a second but yeah he is by even mentioning this he’s highlighting his authority certainly he had authority before but his authority has been it is being returned to him an even greater way than it was before especially being risen from the dead and about to ascend at the right hand of the Father and that is important for what Jesus commands and let’s now talk about that how would Jesus his words about receiving all authority from God been motivating to his worshipful and yet wavering disciples there are a number of ways but what’s one okay so that’s one demonstration of his authority demonstration of his glory his resurrection that should have I should have been motivating to them but what I’m asking is why would that have been motivating the fact that he’s raised or the fact that he’s received all authority from the Father yeah yeah we could say number of things here but I think you’re saying the main one certainly if he has all authority he’s God that he has the right to give such a command and he has a right to be obeyed in that command is the right to be made known he’s a right to have various disciples come to him but probably the biggest concern on the disciples especially as they waiver some of them or many of them is that if he has all authority they know or they ought to know that he will provide for them he’ll protect them he’ll be with them even as they fulfill this command because that’s probably their great fear and that’s even our great view we say in our hearts goddess if I go out on a limb for you how do I know I won’t fall how do I know that I’m not gonna be ruined and Jesus reminds them reminds us I have all authority I have power over everything I have power over you I have power over your enemies and the enemies of me I have power over those who will become disciples I have power over your circumstances there’s nothing I do not have power over I power or even over the evil one you have nothing to fear I will take care of you therefore go don’t be afraid it includes also Jesus is all authority in all power then he is abundant and total ability to reward not only to provide and protect but also reward he can do anything for that it’s not like they obey Him and he’ll say oh sorry I ran out of reward or I I don’t really have anything for you no he has all power I know that they have a good reward a good reward with him says this was indeed meant to motivate them as it is to motivate us now kind of technical question here if Jesus says I am with you always and yet he later ascends and sits at the right hand of the Father how can this be he’s in heaven how can he still be with his people what’s the answer ah the spirit we must understand that the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Christ don’t often think about it that way but that actually is what the scripture says consider for instance Romans 8 verse 9 Romans 8:9 and Paul says however you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you so that is your your true believer you’re not really someone who walks in the flesh if you have the Spirit of God but he goes on but if anyone does not have the speed of Christ he does not belong to him so he’s not talking about two different spirits there those are two words or two phrases of describing the same spirit if you had the Spirit of God you’re a true believer but if you don’t have the Spirit of Christ you’re not true believer that’s because the Spirit of Christ and Spirit of God are the same thing or Philippians 1 19 Hall was speaking about his circumstances and he says for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and four-bit and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ it says there’s there’s a spirit working it’s the Holy Spirit but it’s also the Spirit of Christ that’s why I know my circumstance is gonna turn out well now this is kind of hard for us to comprehend the Holy Spirit is his own person as his own personality and yet the Holy Spirit is also Christ in us it is the Spirit of Christ and it’s just as jesus promised right jesus says you take me in you believe in me you eat my flesh and drink my blood I will abide in you and you will abide in me and he does that through his spirit so even though Jesus’s physical body it’s at the right hand of the Father even now interceding sitting until he receives his kingdom his spirit is with us Jesus body can’t be with us Jesus is a man he’s a man forever because he took on human flesh his body can’t be everywhere at once but his spirit can’t and that’s how he’s with his people now here’s another question how does this Great Commission from Jesus compared to the Commission or role that was given to Israel in the Old Testament in some ways it’s the same what was Israel ultimately meant to do that is similar to what Christians are to do that’s right to be a light of the truth of God a light of God to the world so that people might know God but the way that Israel was called to go about this is different in the way Christians are today or that Jesus Commission’s his disciples today you never see a command like this in the Old Testament these didn’t command the Jews to go out into all the world he does say that they had to be a separate people they are to be a holy people even calls them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that is what they are to be according to Exodus 19:6 they had a role of interceding for the nation’s but they didn’t actually go out to the nations some people described Israel’s role as a light in the Old Testament as a kind of attraction evangelism as they were a holy people and adjust people and as they had a righteous king and a victorious King they were going to draw the nation’s to Israel and to God and in a sense they didn’t go out to the nations the nations were to come to them but this is very different from our Jesus commands in history Commission he says no go out to the nations don’t wait for them to come by the way G or Israel never really fulfilled its role as a kingdom of priests but they will one day if you look at the latter prophets there’s just tons of affirmation that God says all the nations are gonna come to you they’re gonna want to grab hold of you I want to go up to Israel want to go up to Jerusalem Israel will yet fulfill its role of drawing all the nations to God but Israel has to repent first and that hasn’t happened yet but there is a difference between how Israel’s role is given in the Old Testament and the role given to Jesus disciples now I’ve been kind of implying an answer this next question as we’ve been going through this but let’s now handle it directly what’s this commune Jesus from Jesus only to his eleven disciples or the five hundred however many were there or is it for all of his disciples it’s for all of them and how do we know that we could point to several things one is Jesus says go and make disciples of all the nations homes only at most several hundred disciples here they couldn’t literally reach all of the nations themselves they would need help they would need other disciples to come along with them this that means that this is not just a command for them but for all disciples wherever Jesus says when you make disciples teach them everything I’ve commanded you what’s one of the things that Jesus commanded his disciples that they go out and make disciples so it’s necessary that all disciples will take partners over it’s part of Jesus’s work that he began he came to seek and save the Lost that has not been completed but Jesus disciples enter into that work it didn’t finish with those first hundred disciples all disciples now have to take part and then of course there are the other New Testament Scriptures for instance turn over to second Corinthians 5 turn to 2nd Corinthians 5 one of the things that Paul writes in st.

Corinthians is an explanation as to why he’s so committed to the gospel and telling other people the truth of God and he describes how glorious it is and synchron’s 517 2:20 he describes it in some very striking terms that I want us to see 2nd Corinthians 5:17 2:20 look at what it says so starting in verse 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature the old things passed away behold new things have come now all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ now let me just stop there for a second so notice that what Paul is describing here is something that applies to all Christians anyone is in Christ he’s a new creation we’ve all been reconciled to God through Christ so he’s not just describing himself or describing certain Christians he’s describing all believers and then he says in the rest of verse 18 and gave us the Ministry of reconciliation namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and he is committed to us the word of reconciliation so you can see kind of parallel here those who were reconciled to God become those who reconcile others to God if you’re a new creation you have been committed the word and Ministry of reconciliation and he goes on in verse 20 to describe us another way therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God we’re making an appeal through us we beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God so this is what we all are we are all part of the Ministry of reconciliation as those who have been reconciled we all become ambassadors Herald’s preachers for Christ now let me say preachers we often think of only of the person who stands behind the pulpit on Sunday really a preacher and a more technically accurate use the word as it was originally used in the Bible is someone who proclaims good news who proclaims an official announcement a Herald and this is what we all are we all are to be preachers calling on men to turn to God be reconciled to God through Christ the verb that’s often translated preaching in a New Testament it’s not really what a pastor does or a teacher does it is what all believers do we preach the gospel I’m considered what Paul says in acts 17:30 he says you remember there he’s speaking to some of the learn ed Greeks and he’s talking them about the gospel and he says in verse 30 of Acts seventeen therefore having overlooked overlooked the times of ignorance God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent I says God is declaring this everywhere people everywhere should repent how is God declaring this well in your Scripture is in a sense but not everybody has the scriptures not everybody reads the Scriptures so how is God doing it through his people through these disciples through the disciples of Jesus they all go they all declare by the way it is imperative that Jesus disciples go out and make disciples because if they don’t well listen to what Paul says in Romans you can actually turn there now go to Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10 verses 12 to 15 just a little bit before second Corinthians here you know Romans has a lot to say about salvation Romans 9 especially Romans 9 and 10 talk about the salvation of Israel and God’s sovereignty but then Paul says this about the gospel in Romans 10 verses 12 to 15 so there is no distinction between Jew and Greek what makes you actually have the right person okay but there’s no distinction between Jew and Greek but the same Lord is Lord of all abounding in riches for all who call on him for whoever will call in the name of the Lord will be saved how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed and how will they believe in him and who may have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher and how would they preach unless they are sent just as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things you hear what Paul saying there without gospel Herald without Jesus disciples preaching the gospel others cannot hear the gospel and therefore cannot believe the gospel and therefore it cannot be saved in other words if we don’t go out and make disciples people aren’t gonna get saved you may say well wait a second what about God’s sovereignty well yes God is sovereign but lay that truth down for a second and put this other truth next to it Paul says people will not be saved unless Jesus disciples go out and Herald the gospel this is you see God’s ordained means of salvation it’s not merely that Christians live righteous lives it is that they declare the gospel this is God’s means of saving people and we can see that wisdom in this can’t we Jesus disciples make disciples who also make disciples who also make disciples who also make disciples then it keeps on going and going and we get exponential growth that is gonna take the word of Christ to the ends of the earth and that is gonna make disciples of all the nations so if this command from Jesus is for all uses disciples and you know what that means this is also for you and this is also for me so let’s talk more specifically about application then if this is for you and me this Commission was not given to just them it’s also given us do you obey it do you obey the Great Commission you’ve been given this duty and privilege by Christ he has all authority he’s called you to do this as his disciple if you disobey this and it’s like disobedience and the other command what’s the Bible calls sin see making disciples is a core part of being a disciple of Jesus Jesus disciples make more disciples so are you doing this are you what let me ask this question what are you doing as part of obedience to this calling from your master remember this calling is multiple parts it includes making disciples that is sharing the gospel it includes baptizing them and includes teaching them all the Jesus commanded so what are you doing as part of these goals now we are all to obey this according to our unique gifting each part of this command we have a role in but there perhaps some parts that we’re going to sell in more than others according to what God has given to us perhaps we’re gonna be better at the initial part of Shanta gospel and making disciples or perhaps we’ll be better at the part where we teach them all that he has commanded or perhaps we’ll be better at supporting those who who do either the first part the second part or what have you perhaps we’re particularly skilled in sharing the gospel to children or perhaps we’re particularly skilled in making disciples of the dholtze whatever it is we’re all going to have roles we’re going to be excelling at different parts of this Commission but we’re all doing it you know it’s kind of like any other part of the Christian life whenever you think about giftings in the New Testament or you consider the teaching on giftings it’s not that if you have a gift or that you don’t have it let’s say it’s not that if you don’t have a gift that you don’t do that thing oh I’m not gifted when it comes to giving so I don’t give no we all give but some people are particularly gifted at that that is they have a generous heart or they they have abundant resources to give or when it comes to teaching you say oh I don’t have the gift of teaching what does that mean you don’t teach who are all teachers we all teach those who don’t know Jesus about Jesus and we all teach those who do know Jesus more about you that’s courage one another remind one another explain things to one another though there are some who are particularly gifted who have a more formal role of teaching in the church so it is with the commission of Jesus to make disciples maybe pop one part that you’re much more particularly gifted at than others one area that you’re particularly gifted in but we are all to do this you know this really is the reason why the church is still here this is the point that John MacArthur has really been driving home lately it’s you’ve been listening to his teaching a paraphrase what he says but this is really the only reason why the church is still on earth it is to make disciples as he explains there are many good things that the church is able to do on earth that will actually be done better in heaven for instance we can worship the Lord on earth we can give Him praise but you know what we’re gonna do that better in heaven we can also learn about God on the earth we can study him and and find out more about him and his glory do you know what we’re gonna do that better in heaven will see him as he is we’ll be able to fathom him with a much greater knowledge and we can live holy lives before God here on earth but we’re gonna be completely holy in heaven so none of those can be the main reason for why we’re still here but there’s one thing that we can do now that we will not be able to do in heaven one good thing and they know what that is is to make disciples is to tell the Lost about Christ is to be a witness about Christ in the world this is the one thing that we won’t be able to do once we leave the earth you know it minds me of the words of the psalmist remember that one phrase from David where he talked about did the dead praise you if I go to the grave god I’m not going to be able to give you worship made me say well wait David can’t you I mean the Saints are praising the Lord those Saints who have departed they’re praising the Lord in his presence David you won’t be able to do that well what David was talking about was public praise I can’t testify to others I can’t give thanks to you before others if I go to the grave and something for us to realize this is the only reason why the church is still here this is the only reason why you individually are still here it’s so that you can fulfill your part in the great condition this is why we’re here this is the core aspect of being Jesus disciple and yet I think many of you can testify about this but this is one of the most neglected aspects of being a disciple of Jesus many many believers or at least those who call themselves believers seldom if ever tell other people about Jesus or they they do almost nothing to make disciples or to build up disciples of Jesus now if you feel like that’s you I’m not simply trying to guilt-trip you we do want to hear the words of Jesus but I know this is this is a place that I’ve been and something that we all need to grow in so let’s think through what is it that prevents Christians from telling others about Jesus it prevents Christians from making disciples brainstorm with me okay yeah one of the reasons we might not tell others about Jesus is because I think there are multiple ways we could tease out what you just said we’re living like the world so either we don’t feel like we we have a right to tell them cuz they they could easily point to our lives and say hey you don’t seem all that different or we might be loving the things that the world loves if we’re distracted by the things the world of course we’re not going to tell other people about Jesus because we’re too committed to the things of the world and we need to hear the scriptures that say hey you can’t serve two masters you can’t serve God and wealth and even more swimmingly from first John there’s two or chapter two verses 15 to 17 John reminds us do not love the world or the things of the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but is from the world the world is passing away and also its lusts but the one who does the will of God lives forever so yeah a lack of holiness a love for the things the world that will kill your witness that will kill your motivation a witness what else Danny oh say that again yeah fear man that’s a big one right that’s that’s one that it’s probably at the at the core of a lot of it we’re afraid of opposition we’re afraid of the cost were afraid of rejection we’re afraid of persecution but again we have our command from the Lord here and we have the reminder that he has all authority and he says it multiple ways and multiple times throughout his ministry he first of all reminds people the cost of following him you don’t hate yourself you don’t hate your father your mother your brother your sister or even your own life can’t be my disciple but don’t worry because when you seek the Lord’s kingdom and his righteousness first all things will be added to you whatever your life needs are whatever the Lord determines is what you need for your life you’re not going miss out on it because he’s gonna take care of you father’s gonna take care of you son has all authority there’s no reason to fear a man but for your man is something that prevents us from telling others about Christ from making disciples now Danny what are you gonna say and so that goes along the lines of fear of man we know that the gospel is offensive we know that people are gonna reject it and so we don’t want to share it because we don’t want to go to the awkwardness we don’t want to have that rejection but yeah we’re forgetting the words of Christ and we’re forgetting the great needs of people I know I think that’s another thing is that one of the reasons we don’t make disciples is because we actually take the gospel for granted take God and His gospel for granted we we think it’s wonderful for ourselves but somehow we we kind of lose our excitement about it we we’re appreciative of God but we don’t we don’t think of in the same way when we first did when we came saved and when we think about the state of others in the world we kind of figure that they’re okay you know they seem to be doing all right so it’s not that big of a deal whether we tell them the gospel or not and we forget we forget what the word actually says what our state actually was before we got saved and what their state actually is outside of Christ Ephesians 2 talks about that extensively I mean just they’re like a blow upon blow of just how terrible our state was we were slaves of sin we walked according to the curse the course of the course of the world we were under the Dominion of the Prince of the power of the air we were dead in our trespasses and sins we were children of wrath God’s burning unending anger was hanging over us it was about to be poured out on us but thank God and mercy saved us out of that that state is what we were in that state is how people are now we forgotten how good god is we’ve forgotten how wonderful his love is we’ve forgotten how God has provided for our greatest needs deliverance from death deliverance from slavery to sin and to live it’s from his wrath we got to go back and revisit those fundamentals we got to do as Jesus tells the church and Ephesus in Revelation to do he says I have this against you you’re doing lots of good things but you’ve left your first love remember that where you have fallen and go back and do the deeds you did what you are done at first lest I come away and take your light if you don’t repent oh we gotta remember just how wonderful the gospel is so we don’t take God for granted and we don’t think of other situations so lightly I’ll just mention some other reasons we don’t go we’ve mentioned a few already fear of man fear causing offense taking God and His gospel for granted being distracted by the things of the world other things we could say is delegation delegation to others we say oh I’ll just leave it to the professionals I’m not I’m not particularly good at that so ah I’ll just let the pastor do it or I’ll just let that guy who’s really good at evangelism do it that ignores what this passage says Jesus says this is for all of us to do and also if we consider what God says in Ephesians chapter 4 when it speaks about some of the leaders and teachers in the church says God gave us these people for what to equip the Saints for the work of service these ones that we might think of as being the professionals they’re actually to equip every one of us to do this work you know we sometimes think it’s become more popular to think this way that the New Testament model of evangelism is to just bring a whole bunch of unbelievers to the church and they’ll get saved there and sometimes people do get saved that way but that’s not the model of the New Testament New Testament model is bring believers to the church equip them and have them go out and make disciples this is not merely work for the professional this is for all of us to do and you know why it’s so important because the so-called professionals pastors or whatever they can’t reach all the people that you can you’ve got people in your life now those who are super good evangelist or pastors or whatever they can’t reach they don’t know them they don’t get to see them but you know what you do God has placed those people in your life for a reason and it’s for you to be a witness to so we can’t simply delegate this others we can’t excuse ourselves by simply feeling inadequate that’s another reason we don’t go oh you know I’m just not a very holy enough Christian I I don’t I don’t know what to say so I won’t go well well but I’ll say you ought to prepare you need to sanctify Jesus as Lord in your heart you need to live a holy life and you need to prepare to make a defense give an account to those who ask you for the hope that is in you so you do need to prepare but often we feel inadequate or we excuse ourselves with a feeling of inadequacy because we’re simply afraid but Jesus told his disciples in a different place when talking about being a witness for him don’t worry about what you’re going to say because this be able to tell you what to say or give you what to say in that hour it’s not really our power our eloquence that’s gonna save anybody it’s God using us as means now the reason we don’t go over reliance on God’s sovereignty say God doesn’t need me to save anyone so I want to go but again that’s disobedience to this charge from Christ it’s not keeping in mind what Paul says in Romans then unless we go they won’t get saved and it’s another instance where something that is meant to encourage obedience is twisted to actually be used for disobedience the fact that God is sovereign ought to encourage us to evangelize to make disciples because we know it works not in vain we know that we can rely on God we know that it’s it’s his word and his power that changes people not our own but when we twist that way twist that truth in a way that appeases the flesh we can we can suddenly feel like we don’t need to make disciples but we do and one other thing I’ll say is that ultimately it’s on beliefs it’s unbelief that prevents us from making disciples unbelief about whether God seemed to take care of us I’m believing about whether the gospel is really true or really and in some cases the reason we don’t share and the gospel make disciples is because we ourselves are not disciples so we want to deal with this so we can obey Jesus in this way now will obedience this command look the same for each Christian no I think I already alluded to that not every Christian is going to be a street evangelist or two open-air preacher but we all have to compete with that we can meet with and then we can talk to you not every person is gonna be fruitful in the same ways some person may be bringing tons of people at Christ another person may be bringing only a few people it’s not ultimately the results that we look to it’s the faithfulness certainly we ought to or I’ll say something about our expectations about salvation in just a second I know I know from talking with you and talking with other Christians that we all have certain restrictions in our lives maybe family members who work very hard to the gospel don’t want to hear it or maybe a job situation where it’s very difficult to share share the come share God’s word with other people that we work with and I know that we have those restrictions but we need to find ways of still doing what Jesus called us to do if we can’t do it one way then we need to think of another way we might need to get creative we’re never gonna force people but I keep looking for ways to put God’s word out there and see if God is working in someone’s life people need to hear it the Lord has commanded us to do it and he deserves it and really it’s for our joy if God commands us to do something our joy is at the center of it we obey our Lord in this way and we get to take part in the joy of our master what’s the greatest joy that God has in heaven what Jesus says it’s seeing a sinner repent it’s more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 people who don’t need repentance if that gives God joy that’s gonna give us joy one final question for us to consider should we expect people to get saved as a result of our wins the answer is yes maybe not on an individual basis you don’t know with a particular person whether it is that that person is going to be saved we don’t know how many people from our personal witness are going to be saved either but we know that as a Church God has left us so that we can make disciples he’s not gonna leave us to that Commission and then make us that we never make any disciples he is sovereign we we will see people come to know the Lord some people are gonna hate it it’s gonna be the aroma of death to death some people are gonna ignore it but some people are going to be broken by it they’re gonna love it and be really grateful to us and aroma life to life so this is the great commission from Jesus one of his last charges before he left us and it is our charge until Jesus comes to take us home let me go back previous if is our duty but it is also a privilege it’s command for us but it’s for our joy so brothers and sisters let us embrace it by faith let us repent to the thinking and ways of living that have led us away from obedience to this commission and let us look forward to the heavenly reward that comes with being found at faithful slave of Jesus Christ now that’s it for this week next week we’re gonna return to the resurrection and talk about resurrection Theory’s biggest waste people I’ll try to explain away the resurrection and we’ll see how those things don’t hold up we’re gonna be watching a video as part of our discussion of that topic let’s pray as we close our God we do need you with us this commission is great it is a it is a glad one but Lord in the because of our flesh and because of the evil that’s in the world it’s also a hard one but it’s not an impossible one it’s one that we can do by your spirit because you’re with us Jesus Christ the Lord you do have your elect out there and you’ve called us to go and reach them to go out to be constantly going to making disciples and those that are disciples who become disciples we ought to be building them up this is our mission this is our calling I pray that each person at Calvary needs a person listening God would but see that so intimately and think about how they can really be a part of that in an even greater way and be obedient to you experience the joy of that in Jesus name Amen alright see you next week