The Great Commission
Matthew 28:18-20
Introduction
When he was the pastor of the Methodist church in Scarborough, William Sangster had an eccentric member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man was mentally deficient and usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber the man lathered up a customer for a shave, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, "Are you prepared to meet your God?" The frightened man fled with the lather on his face! (W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 215.)
George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1968, Currier’s sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.
Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
Sweeting concluded that story by asking, "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message -- the most important in your life -- and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?"
We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message?
Nineteen out of every twenty who become Christians do so before they reach the age of 24. After 25, only one in 10,000 After 35, only one 40,000 After 45, only one in 200,000 After 55, only one in 300,000 After 65, only one in 500,000 After 74, only one in 700,000. (Leadership, V. 1, p.55.)
There is a tremendous urgency when it comes to carry out the Great Commission. One of the reasons our children and youth are vital to this church is because they are ripe for the gospel. They have not become "set in their ways". We need to begin focusing on the story of the Gospel now.
1. All Authority in Jesus
D.L. Moody and once spoke with a woman who didn’t like his method of evangelism. "I don’t really like mine all that much either. What’s yours?" She replied that she didn’t have one. Moody said, "Then I like mine better than yours."
But by whose authority do we carry out this mission? What right do we have to disrupt others lives? What makes our beliefs more important and unstoppable?
Jesus gave us the authority and ability to us. Like Jesus we can now make disciples, we can now baptize. It is by His authority and will that we do all we do.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Of all the gifts" in scripture, all of the talking about God’s power in our lives, of all the references to the power of the Holy Spirit, one passage tells us why we are filled by the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 says the "power" is for witnessing.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Why is it that we don’t witness to others? Let me share some statistics with you. Why people don’t witness: 1. 90% have failed in witnessing attempts in the past 2.The are biblically illiterate 3. They leave it to the professionals 4. We shouldn’t impose our faith on others. (Ron Hutch craft, Wake Up Calls, Moody, 1990, p.30)
2. Go
So what is the first step in carrying out the Great Commission?
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
"Where ever you go" should be the understanding today. Our daily business takes us too many places and most of those places have people. There is where the "go" command is fulfilled. There is nothing magical about a move or a plane ride.
A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.
"Well," said the chaplain, "you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don’t provoke them."
For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked -- "By the way, did you take my advice?" "How did it work?"
"Well," said the young man, "I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed." "Well," asked the chaplain, "How did that work?"
The young soldier answered: "We have a prayer meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest."
Oh, friends, I am so tired of weak Christianity. Let us be out and out for Christ; let us give no uncertain sound. If the world wants to call us fools, let them to it. It is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. Thank God for the privilege we have of confessing Christ. (In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering. Howard Hendricks.)
Obviously, one needs to accept Christ as Lord. The first step in becoming a disciple is to be a disciple of Christ. Learn and follow what Jesus said.
Lieghton Ford tells this story of a crusade with Billy Gtraham. I was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next night and had arrived a day early. He came incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one recognized him.
Directly in front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to my presentation. When I invited people to come forward as an open sign of commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man on the shoulder and asked, "Would you like to accept Christ? I’ll be glad to walk down with you if you want to." The old man looked him up and down, thought it over for a moment, and then said, "Naw, I think I’ll just wait till the big gun comes tomorrow night."
Billy and I have had several good chuckles over that incident. Unfortunately, it underlines how, in the minds of many people, evangelism is the task of the "Big Guns," not the "little shots."
If your waiting for the "right" moment or the "big" shot to come along, I’m sorry, I’m Jesus is the only "shot" to heaven you have. If you hear this morning I encourage you to receive.
3. Make Disciples
The command statement from Jesus in this great commission is to "Make Disciples". It is commanded. No, not with as razor to their throats or a gun to their heads, willingly. We are to make learners of Christ. As a mater of fact we are to make disciples of or learners of "all nations". Referring back to Acts 1:8, you have the ability in Christ, powered by the Holy Spirit, to accomplish this task.
How do we begin? by first being a disciple ourselves by accepting and learning about Christ.. We need to set the example by being a learner. Not one of us in this room knows it all. I take issue with people who do not participate in group bible studies and call themselves a disciple. Where is your evidence?
Even as pastor, I still attend our church bible studies and if I pay attention I will always learn something new or be reminded of scripture I will need that week.
4. Baptizing
So what does the "making a disciple" look like? The first step of a disciple is to be baptized. It is the public profession of faith in Christ. An old evangelist I use to know said it is the "first" act of obedience.
As we stated last week it is a symbol of burial and resurrection of Christ of which you partake. Phillip witnessed to the Ethiopian Eunich and as soon as they came to water, he was baptized.
5. Teaching to obey
Life is a matter of building. Each of us has the opportunity to build something -- a secure family, a good reputation, a career, a relationship to God. But some of those things can disappear almost overnight due to financial losses, natural disasters and other unforeseen difficulties.
What are we to do? Daniel Webster offered excellent advice, saying, "If we work on marble it will perish. If we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on men’s immortal minds, if we imbue them with high principles, with just fear of God and love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which time cannot efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity. Morning Glory, July 3, 1993.
Sign of being in Christ. "If you love me...obey my commands". "To obey is better than sacrifice". The Lord wants, desires our obedience to His commands. As I said at the review of the Great Command, when in doubt, Love.
6. Jesus always with you
Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "Lo, I am with you always".
T.H. Huxley, a well-known agnostic, was with a group of men at a weekend house party. On Sunday morning, while most of them were preparing to go to church, he approached a man known for his Christian character and said, "Suppose you stay at home and tell my why you are a Christian." The man, knowing he couldn’t match wits with Huxley, hesitated.
But the agnostic said gently, "I don’t want to argue with you. I just want you to tell me simply what this Christ means to you." The man did, and when he finished, there were tears in Huxley’s eyes as he said, "I would give my right hand if only I could believe that!"
