Committed To Christ’s Presence and Power
Matthew 28:18-20
Knowledge of motion, but not of stillness.
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence.
Knowledge of words, but ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance.
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death.
But nearer to death, no nearer to God.
Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycle of heaven in twenty centuries,
Brings us further from God and nearer to the dust.
There is according to the words of the poet in his day, and in our day, I believe, so much information, and yet a lack of knowledge. So much knowledge, and yet a lack of knowing.
One man in writing a book in the early 70’s took the last line of that poet and he wrote a book entitled the Dust of Death. And he argued in a very eloquent manner in some 300 pages that the dust of death is settling over western culture, and ultimately the dust of death is settling over every culture in the world.
Is it possible for us as Christians to become desensitized by all the statistics concerning all the lost peoples of our world? - Those hundreds of millions of people who do not know Christ as Savior. Is it possible that the figures we are presented with in sermons, Sunday school lessons, and various Christian periodicals, that these figures no longer move us to action?
For us to realize that we live in a world that is nearly 7 billion people strong, growing by some 80 to 100 million people yearly, does that figure affect us?
To realize from a book by Patrick Johnstone, Operation World: A Handbook for Intercessors, where he takes those statistics and he observes that 24% of the world’s population are atheists or secularists, largely in the former communist world, but increasingly in the western world. 3.4% claim to be animists, yet John Stott and others have noticed that up to 40% of the world population are largely influenced by animism, of witchcraft and of sorcery. 13% Hindus. 8% Buddists. .44% Jews. 17% Muslims. 33 % Christian.
But then of that 33% Christian: 19% Roman Catholic; 4% Orthodox churches; less than 1% Christian Churches; 9 1/2 % Protestant Churches.
And that to hear the figure in America alone, depending on the report, you read 49-59% of the American people claim to be churched. In Randolph county alone, where 62% claim to be churched.
But we know that even those numbers are deceiving for to be churched does not mean that one is saved. So the attendance at a worship gathering does not mean one is a Christian, little lone saved.
Moving from our world, to our country, to our county, to Sparta, IL, to those of us here this morning. Could it be that there are several families represented here, where many of us come from, from families who are Christless families, except for a handful of family members?
Could it be that we have heard this figure so many times in mission information, and Sunday preaching, no longer do we realize the lostness of our world?
You see if all of our churches in the Restoration Movement alone were to double overnight, we would simply be marching progressively backwards. We would not even make a dent.
Is it possible for us as Christians to become desensitized by certain passages of Scripture? Is it possible that we have heard untold sermons on Matthew 28, and had it become like so many other texts of Scripture? Not another sermon on "Preach the Word." Not another sermon on "Repent and be baptized." Not another sermon on "For God so loved the world." Not another sermon on the "Great Commission."
Is it possible that there are certain texts of Scripture that we have heard preached from too often … taught, sung, memorized, read too often … that no longer do they make us lean forward in our seats? No longer do they set us on the razors edge of Christian living?
How do you preach a text that has been preached so many times, in so many creative ways, in so many powerful ways? How do you preach that text to a congregation who know where that text is to be found?
We usually approach the text as Christ’s Final and Great Commission. That in this text, Jesus tells us what we ought to be doing as his disciples. He tells us that we ought to be going. He tells us that we ought to be making disciples. He tells us to baptize. He tells us to teach them everything that he taught the first disciples, and teaches us through His Word. We see the marching orders of the church, the blue print for the conquest of the church. That is how the church can evangelize.
So this morning, I don’t want to talk with you about what we are to be doing. Rather this morning, I want to raise this question for you, "How are we to do what it is we know God wants us to be doing?" How can we go? How can we make disciples? How can we baptize? How can we teach?
How dare us attempt to fulfill this commission that Christ gave to only a handful of individuals. Surely by now we know what we ought to be doing, don’t we?
I have attempted to get into Matthew’s world, to understand Matthew’s church to whom he was writing. And the more that I wrestled with this text, the more that it dawned on me that perhaps we need to emphasize going and making disciples and teaching, but I wonder if we have not missed in that text what I call book end verses. Where vs. 18 and vs. 20 support the commands that Jesus gives. Where vs. 18 and vs. 20 provide the basis for the assumption that Jesus makes in the Great Commission.
For you see in vs. 18, if you look at your Bibles, Jesus says, "All authority has been given to me." In vs. 18, Jesus speaks about his power.
In vs. 20, he says, in the last part of that verse, "And surely, lo, I will be with you always to the very end of the age." Jesus speaks about his presence in that verse.
And in between the power and the presence of Jesus, Jesus talks about what it is what we ought to be doing as his disciples.
Whenever we read this we are not only reminded of what we should be doing, but we are reminded of how we do what we should be doing. That because of His power and His presence, we can go. That because of His power and His presence, we can make disciples. That because of His power and His presence, we can baptize and we can teach.
I am convinced that Jesus raises at least three reminders for the disciples then, as well as the disciples now, in speaking about his power and his presence.
Christ desires to remind the disciples then, and desires to remind the disciples today, in this text … to remind us first of all about his ABIDING POWER AND PRESENCE. "Surely, I will be with you always."
There is a Bible truth found for us in that phrase. The Bible teaches again and again that there has never been a time, there has never been a moment, when Christ’s presence was not felt within the world.
John begins his gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" … apart from his power.
In Genesis, we see Christ’s presence and power in the creation of the world.
In Revelation, we encounter Christ’s power and presence in the recreation of the world, which is to come.
To speak of Christ’s power and presence as revealed in Matthew’s gospel is to speak of the power and presence of God himself. You see Matthew begins with one emphasis in Matthew 1 … "And this child shall be called Immanuel, God with us." And Matthew’s gospel ends with the emphasis "God with us." … "Lo, I will be with you always to the end of the age."
My brothers and sisters, can we not take comfort in this fact? That Christ’s presence and power is felt in moments of personal and corporate despair bringing comfort to the our lives. Christ’s power and presence is found in our lives in our hour of judgment, convicting us of our own sin. Can we not find comfort in the fact that Christ’s power and presence is found in the moment we resolve, "And Lord, we know what we should be doing, and Lord we resolve to do what you want us to do with our lives?" That in all the times of anxiety and frustration, when the desperation of our world is weighing in around, Christ’s power and presence is forever present.
You see without that power and presence even the Bible becomes a lifeless book. Without that power and presence there is no unity. There is no fellowship. There is no worship. Without the power and presence of Christ there can be no evangelism. There can be no making disciples. There can be no going.
We ought to praise God that as we face the demands of discipled living, as we face the challenges that missionary after missionary present us, that we know that we have been given a power and presence of Christ that abides, comforts, guides and that empowers.
But there is a second reminder that Jesus lays out for the disciples, then and now. He reminds us of his AWESOME POWER AND PRESENCE. Vs. 18 … "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me."
What a magnificant statement … to have an awesome power of that magnitude that men will die for … that they will attempt to buy that power … that they will make war for that power.
And Jesus reminds us that as we go, as we make disciples, and as we seek to live the life that God desires us to live, we possess that awesome power and presence.
And yet when we assess the conditions of the world, when we assess the conditions of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ I am afraid that far too many times we draw our circles, and we say that Christ’s power and presence will not step out of that circle that we have drawn. That he is only at work in our lives. That he is only at work in the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. That he is only at work in the Restoration Movement.
You see too often we have tried to limit the power and presence of Christ … not because of forces from without the church. But the power and presence of Christ if often limited because of paralizing forces within the body of Christ.
Can we no limit the power of Christ by our setting of our own agendas and thinking that what we think is important is certainly what God must think important? Do we limit the power and presence of Christ by our own traditions, when we proclaim in churches and ministry settings, "We have never done it that way before" or "We’ve always done it this way"? Can we limit the power of Christ by our own provincialism, our own sectarianism, our own radical individualism, not learning from others and refusing to work with others, who have a common concern for the lostness of people’s souls?
To limit it by our own programs or our petty power struggles, by our own spiritual myopia, thinking that God is only concerned about Randolph county, only about the United States, only about Africa, only about Europe, or more tragically, only about what God can do for me and my Christian life.
Time and again, the power of Christ cuts across such pitiful barriers. And church history reveals that God will use only those people who are willing to be used by him. And it is possible that not only one lampstand in a community will be removed because of its failure to rely on that power and presence. It is possible that God will allow any number of lampstands, any number of churches, to be removed because they refuse to allow themselves to be used by God. Is it possible that God can remove whole church movements until we seek to do his will once again?
Those outside of the church have attempted to restrain Christ’s power and presence. The religious, economic, military and social powers of Jesus’ day thought they could. Jerusalem was judged because it rejected Christ. Rome was judged because it rejected Christ.
We can make ourselves aware by reading magazines. The religious section of Time magazine, I think that it is interesting that the key issue from 1984-1994 was evangelism and church influence throughout the world. In 1984, in two consecutive weeks … one discussing religion in Russia, where one preacher in Russia was noted. He prayed. He prayed before Russian authorities, "You shed your blood for Russia too, O Lord. We pray that a surge of revival will start too in this house of ours." He prayed before the ruling authorities. In some societies, we can not go out openly to evangelize others, so what can we do? We must bear the fruit of the Spirit, so that people when they see how we live will be drawn to the Spirit within us. He noted that Christianity has survived atheistic taunts. Quote: "The gospel has its own power to change human lives>"
And then in the next week, a report of religion in China, subtitled, "Chinese Government Clamps Down on Revival in China." In a country that was adopting capitalistic economic measures, and it begins clamping down on the church. Why? Because according to the article, when the Chinese communists took over there were 800,000 Christians. Today it is estimated that there are 50,000,000 Christians in China. You see, my friend, the power and presence of Christ can not be contained.
The course of history is littered with the names of people who have attempted to destroy the church. That Christ’s power and presence cannot be contained, little lone destroyed. Christ’s spirit works when and where and how he pleases. And when it comes time for the Spirit of God to move, he will move. And what the Scripture teaches, and what history has demonstrated, time and again, all the forces of the world, and all our good intentions, and yet invalid intentions cannot restrain the power and presence of Jesus Christ.
There is not a culture. There is not a language. There is not a nation. There is not a family here this morning that Satan does not want to claim as his own.
But there is not a structure. There is not a culture. There is not a language. There is not a nation. There is not a nation. There is not a family. There is not an individual that with the power of God we can not claim for Christ.
How can we go, Jesus? We can go because of your abiding presence and power. We can go because of your awesome presence and power. Finally, he reminds us of his ASSISTING POWER AND PRESENCE.
"And surely, I will be with YOU". In class, in college, occasionally, a professor will have the students read a section of Scripture with the accent, and the inflection that Jesus must have used, or Paul might have used. But can you imagine what must have been going through the disciple’s heads, when they heard these words.
A few days before he had been removed from them. He had been restored by Resurrection. And now he was leaving again. And what where they to do? What are we to do?
Recently, I read a tract about the baptism for forgiveness for sins, but nowhere was mentioned the receiving of the gift of the Holy Spirit. And yet it is the Holy Spirit we receive that is present within us that gives us the power to live the way we ought to live. That Christ abides in us to assist us. That Christ’s Spirit within us is the Spirit of servanthood. That we possess a strength not our own, a courage not our own, a wisdom not our own.
How can we carry out this Great Commission? By the Spirit of Christ we have the power necessary for effective service. Indeed, his power and his presence are indespensible for Christian witness.
God, I am convinced, has given us a message that will make a difference in this world. And God has given us a power as we proclaim that message to make a difference in that world.
Could it be, however, that we have relied upon our own strategies, and our own plans, and our own human endeavors? Plans and strategies are needed. But could it be that apart from the power and presence of God, no plan will bear fruit. No strategy will work.
The gifts, you see, that you and I have been given are service gifts. Gifts not given to us for self-seeking purposes, but self-giving purposes. Given to us so that we can help others come to Christ. Given to us so that we can help others age in Christ.
It was taped on a lectern a couple of years ago somewhere in central Illinois. I do not remember where. It was a plaque which reads, "The task before us is never so great as the power within us."
