Four Elements Of The Great Commission

Introduction

And if you would please be turning in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. Just a moment we want to look at a couple of verses in that context. Or we do, we want to welcome those who are visiting with us this morning. I notice a large number of guests in our crowd today, and we want you to know how glad we are that you’ve come. You are a welcome guest. We hope you’ll even stick around for a little while and give us a chance to know you better. Most importantly, we hope that you will find this service this morning to be scriptural and spiritually uplifting. And by the time that we’re done, you’ll be glad that you were here today and feel like you understand better God’s will for your life.

But we’re glad that you’re here this morning. Matthew chapter 28, I’d like for you to read with me starting in verse 1 of that chapter. It says, Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning and his garment as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. And the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said, Come see the place where he was lying. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you into Galilee. There you shall see him. Behold, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to the disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. And he said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and take word to my brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see me.

Jesus Christ had left heaven and come to earth. He had lived among men, teaching about his kingdom and the character of those who would share in it. He’d been rejected by the religious leaders of his day who conspired together to murder him. They killed him with Roman hands, putting him to death on a cross. But in that tragic scene, there was a glorious truth. Because you see, in killing Jesus, they had made possible the sacrifice for sins that we needed to escape sin and its dreadful consequences. So in that tragedy there was a glorious truth. The Savior had now offered the sacrifice. And on the third day, as we’ve just read from Matthew 28, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared again to his disciples to their amazement, alive, victorious over death.

And soon he would leave them. He would return to heaven from whence he came to take his place at the Father’s side. Which leaves us with one remaining critical question. What happens next? What are the disciples to do after he goes back to the Father? What is the next step in God’s grand plan? And even more significantly, what’s to be done with this great truth now? That a Savior has come and given his life, a sacrifice for sin. What’s to be done with this great message that men can be redeemed, they can be saved for their sins. What’s next? And if you read with me, beginning in verse 16 of Matthew 28. When Jesus gathers with his disciples in Galilee, he gives them the answer to that question.

It says, But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some were doubtful. And 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. That was the next step. Here Jesus would charge his disciples with their sacred mission. They’re to take this grand truth about the Savior who’s given his life and the salvation he’s made possible. They’re to take it and they’re to preach it to the entire world.

The world had to know what Jesus had done and what was now available. And it was the disciples who were here commissioned to carry that message. I want to suggest to you that these three verses that close Matthew chapter 28 are verses that are loaded with significance, not just for those disciples who gathered with Jesus on this grand day on this hillside and heard him speak the words, not just for the disciples of that generation, but brethren, they’re loaded with significance for disciples of every generation. They’re loaded with significance for us. And we need to spend some time contemplating their full force. I want you to think with me this morning about the Great Commission. And particularly, I want you to notice with me four elements of this sacred charge that Jesus would give to his disciples and what it meant, not just for that group gathered on this occasion at that hillside, but I want you to think about its significance for us and the sacred mission to which it calls us and the grand purpose that Jesus has for his disciples.

1. The Authority Behind the Charge

I want you to notice with me first of all. In verse 18, that Jesus would begin the Great Commission by laying out the authority that is behind the charge he would give them. In verse 18, he says, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. And that’s what precedes the instruction. That statement, I think, says at least two really significant things about the charge that would follow. Number one, I want you to notice that what Jesus says in verse 18 is establishes his right to give the order. Jesus is about to tell his disciples to do something. And as their Lord, as the one with all authority, he had the right to call upon them to carry out this great mission with which he would charge them.

Because of who said it? And because of his authority, those who heard the message, the charge, were obliged to go. Because Jesus had the right and the authority to say go. It was their duty to go. I want you to think about that this morning, brethren. It is significant. I want you to appreciate it with me as we study the Great Commission, the authority that is behind it. I want you to appreciate that with me because we’re living in a time in which it has become fashionable and acceptable among God’s people to neglect these instructions in Matthew 28. It has become acceptable among God’s people not to win souls. Let’s be blunt about that. How many of us, honestly, in the last year have been diligently seeking to win souls?

How many of us have won one in the last year? How about in the last five years? How about the last ten? How many of us could honestly confess before God who knows this morning that we’ve really been trying? We need to be reminded, brethren, we need to stop and consider not just the mission that is laid out here, but who called us to it, and whose authority is behind it, and who we are resisting when we do not heed it. It is an interesting thing that Jesus said, before I tell you what I want you to do, I want you to appreciate who’s telling you to do it. It is the one with all authority in heaven and on earth. But I want you to notice, secondly, that in this statement about his authority in verse 18, that there are also words of comfort.

It would be indeed the one with all authority in heaven on earth who would support their efforts and the mission he’s about to give them. It would be the one with all authority in heaven and on earth who would be with them as they went out. It would be the one with all authority in heaven and on earth who would open doors for them, who would guide them as they went to do this, who would protect them from their enemies. What a comfort. Does it comfort you? It should. To think that as I go out to do the work that Jesus has given me to do, he is with me. And not just that Jesus is with me, but the one with all authority, who rules over everything, is behind me.

2. The Mission: Go Make Disciples

And he’s supporting my efforts. Evangelism may appear to be a daunting task until we appreciate the authority that’s behind the call. Before we ever get to the mission, we need to appreciate the authority that is behind it. The authority that calls us to duty. And that gives us great confidence in the mission he’s laid upon us. Well, let’s look at that secondly. What is the mission? What is it that he is calling his disciples to do? Let me suggest to you that in verse 19, Jesus would lay it out for us in words that are simple and unmistakable. When we read the Great Commission, we’re left with no doubt at all about what it is the Lord wants us to do, about what the next step in God’s great plan is.

In verse 19, Jesus says, Go therefore and make disciples. That’s it. That’s the mission. This message about Jesus and the sacrifice and the salvation he offers. It was not meant to be kept as a closely guarded secret, although God’s people sometimes seem to think that today. Why, the message of salvation, we keep it to ourselves. That’s not what Jesus intended. It was something that was to be taken to the world. Go, he said, make disciples. I’m not sure how much we’re to make, even of the very first word that he uses in verse 19. He says, Go. I don’t want to do with more with that than perhaps the Lord intended, but it is interesting to me that the disciples didn’t kind of wait around, waiting for all the masses in the world to rush to Jerusalem, banging on their door, telling them, inform us about this Jesus.

Preach the message to us. I think it’s interesting to note that the disciples took action. In fact, if you’ll turn over to Mark 16, look at the parallel account of the Great Commission in Mark’s gospel. In Mark 16 and verse 15, Jesus says, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation, essentially the same charge. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who was disbelieved shall be condemned. Essentially the same charge is given. But look at verse 20. In Mark’s gospel, we find out what happened after they received the charge. Verse 20 says, And they went out and preached everywhere. Notice they didn’t wait for people to come to them. They went. They went out, the text says, everywhere.

And preached to whoever who would listen. And that is the pattern we see in the book of Acts as the Great Commission is fulfilled. In fact, if you look over at Acts chapter 8 and verse 4. After Stephen was put to death, verse 4 says, Therefore those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Do you get the picture of what’s happening there? They’re having to flee Jerusalem because of the persecution. What did they do? As they spread out from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria, they just went everywhere preaching the word. Verse 5 says, and Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. They didn’t wait in Jerusalem for the Samaritans to come to them. They took the gospel to Samaria.

In chapter 11 of the book of Acts, in verse 19. It says, so then those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with Sivan, made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except the Jews alone. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. Think about the missionary journeys of Paul. What were those journeys all about? Were they waiting around in Jerusalem for the people to come to them and hear the word? Not at all. Paul set all these journeys to take the gospel to new places, to new cities.

And I want you to notice, even when he knew it went to a new city, he didn’t just set up in a storefront somewhere, put a sign in front of it that said, Come hear the gospel here. He went and sought them. In fact, in Acts 13, at the very beginning of the very first missionary journey, we see, we see Paul’s method of operation. In Acts 13 and verse 4, it says, So being sent out by the Holy Spirit. That’s interesting. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went down to Seleucia. And from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they had reached Salamis, listen, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews. When they went into a city, where did they go?

They went to where the prospects were. They went to where the people were who needed to be taught, and they sought them out. And brethren, we need to learn something from that today. We’re not doing enough going. We’re doing too much waiting. We build these fine facilities, pad the pews and turn on the air conditioners. Put an ornate sign out front with the times on it. And every Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night and during a gospel meeting all during the week. We come 30 minutes early and we open the doors and we have a printer print up nice visitors’ packets for us. And we sit around and wait. That makes about as much sense as a man going up on a side of the hill, digging a hole, baiting his hook, sticking it in the water, and praying and hoping that someday the fish will come jump in the water.

Listen, don’t misunderstand. I’m glad we’ve got a sign. I’m glad we’ve got visitors’ packets. I hope we can get anybody who would be interested to come through those doors. But brethren, the job is not waiting, the job is seeking. And that’s what the New Testament disciples did. Jesus said, go make disciples. Well, let’s talk about that other part. The goal of going was to make disciples. What’s a disciple? Well, he’s a student. He’s a pupil. He’s an imitator. He’s a follower. Do you get a sense of what our mission is? Go make followers of Jesus. We’re to go to appeal to people who aren’t following him, to follow him. Jesus wants the people in our community to learn about their dreadful condition in sin. Romans 6 and verse 23 says that the wages of sin is death.

And people want Jesus wants people in our culture to learn about that. He wants them to learn of his great sacrifice. Jesus wants John 3.16 to be more than just something that someone prints on a sheet and holds it up under the goalpost in the end zone at a football game. He wants people to understand the theme of John 3.16 that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. He wants them to learn about the salvation he offers. He wants them to learn how to be saved. And he wants men to hear that message and believe it and obey it. And he wants them to commit their lives to serving Him, to living life God’s way. He wants all men to become disciplined.

3. Baptizing Them, Teaching Them to Observe

And you know who he gave the responsibility to call them to that? He gave it to us. Go make disciples. Now I want you to notice also with me in this context that Jesus would mention two of the specifics that are involved in making disciples. He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. How are you going to do that? Well, one thing you’re going to do is baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I find that fascinating. Jesus says disciple making involves baptism. In fact, it’s essential to the process. Baptism is that last step we take after having believed in Jesus and determined to leave the life of sin and to serve him. Baptism is that last step we take that moves us out of the realm of Satan and into the kingdom of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13, Paul would say, if we’re by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body. It’s how we get into the body, the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It saves us. Remember the great commission in Mark’s account. Mark 16 and verse 16, he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved. It is through baptism that we’re cleansed for our sins and able to have a relationship with a holy God. Acts 2 38 and verse 38, Peter told those assembled on the day of Pentecost, repent and let each of you be baptized. Why? For the forgiveness of your sins.

When the early Christians went out making disciples, they baptized them. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 41, after Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached that great sermon, it says, so then those who had received his word were baptized. And there were added that day about 3,000 souls. If you go over to Acts the 8th chapter, and at verse 35, as Philip is teaching the Ethiopian eunuch, verse 35 says, beginning from this scripture, he preached Jesus to him. And as he preached, of all things, verse 36 it says, and as they went along the road, they came to the water, and the eunuch said, Look, water, what prevents me from being baptized? I want you to understand that in the first century, when the disciples went about making disciples, when they preached Jesus, they preached about baptism.

And I tell you what utterly fascinates me about that. Brethren, you could go to the worship services of religious groups all over this country and listen to what’s taught from the pulpits, and you can listen to religious television and listen week after week to virtually every program as appeals are made for people to be saved, and you would never be led based on that teaching to ask the question that the eunuch asked in Acts 8, verse 36. What prevents me from being baptized? That’s because if it’s even alluded to at all, it’s only mentioned most of the time as an irrelevancy. Now, folks, I want to be direct with you about that. The hard reality is that people today are not being told the truth about how to become disciples.

Because they’re not being taught to be baptized. And in the preaching of the gospel, that was always included. I find it amazing in view of what’s taught in our religious world today that Jesus thought baptism so significant that he mentioned it here as he gave his disciples this grand commission. I think it is hugely significant that as we study the carrying out of that mission, that in case after case of conversion, they talk about baptism. And how silent our religious world is on that subject today. Well, making disciples involved baptism. And if we’re going to be true to the mission, we need to be teaching baptism. But there’s something else we need to be doing. Look back at Matthew 28 with me, if you will. He says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

But there’s something else here that’s involved in making disciples. He says, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. Making disciples involves more teaching. There’s more to it. Than simply learning the basics about Jesus’ sacrifice and what I need to do to be saved. There’s more to it than just being baptized. I’m amazed sometimes to listen, listen to Christians who look back, who could live perfectly wicked lives but look back and say, well, you know, I was baptized. Well, folks, that’s not all there is to being a disciple. That’s what Jesus is saying here. Being a disciple involves an ongoing process of learning and growing. Learning, he says, to observe all that I’ve commanded you. And we need to remember that. Every Christian, every disciple needs to remember that being a disciple means we’re continually learning and growing in Jesus Christ, becoming more like him, and ridding ourselves of every last vestige of the old man, the old self.

4. The Scope of Our Mission: All the Nations

And we need to remember that in terms of the people we teach. Just because someone is baptized is not the end of the process. And brethren, we need to remember that every person converted sets before us an important challenge. New Christians need to be strengthened. They need to be helped as they build their foundation in Christ. They need to be helped as they try to put off the old habits of sin and develop that new person in Christ. The mission is to go make disciples. Baptizing them, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. But there’s something else here I want you to notice. Something else in verse 19 that defines for us, I think, the scope of our mission. As God’s people go out to make disciples, where are they to go?

To whom are they to go take this message? Did you see it? Verse 19, go therefore and make disciples. Underline that in your Bible, of all the nations. In Mark’s account in Mark 16 and verse 15, Mark says, go therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. To whom are we to take this message? All nations. I think the primary point that Jesus is making in this context is to say that no longer is the gospel just for the Jewish people. When he had originally commissioned his disciples, back during his earthly ministry, he had only sent them to the house of Israel. But as he gives this grand commission in the aftermath of his great sacrifice, he says, go to the whole world.

Gentiles, too, could share in this new covenant. But let me say to you, I think that even back of that, there is still a larger principle. And that is, I think what Jesus is saying here is that it is his desire, it is the desire of God that all men hear the message and be saved. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 3 and 4, Paul would write that this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. We need to appreciate that as we go make disciples, Jesus wants all men to be saved. Now that seems obvious enough. And I imagine if we’d had a test before I preach that and asked, who does God want to be saved?

Everybody would have gotten the answer right. But brethren, sometimes I think we are challenged to really accept in practical reality, in practical work in our lives, challenged to accept the scope of Jesus’ mission, challenged to really take the message to all men. Do we do that? Sometimes I fear we get too focused even on our own country, even in our own culture. I think I tend to be that way sometimes. Thinking too much about Orlando and Florida and America, and not enough about other places in the world. How about South America? How about Asia? How about Africa? How about Europe? How many millions and millions of lost sheep that belong to Jesus are in those places that he wants to be one? Brethren, disciples need to be made there too.

The scope of our mission is to all men. But you know, even within our own culture. Even within our culture, sometimes there are differences that hinder us. There are racial differences. There are economic differences, and yes, there are even moral and lifestyle differences that sometimes, if we allow them, get in the way of really encompassing the whole scope of the mission Jesus gave us. It’s not a new problem.

There were some in Jesus’ day, for example. Look over in Luke 15. There were some in Jesus’ day who had a problem with the scope of the gospel, that it went to all men. And Luke 15 and verse 1. Luke writes, now all the tax gatherers and the sinners were coming near to him to listen to him. See that? You think that’d be good news, wouldn’t you? Here are the sinful people. Here are the immoral. Here are the wicked. And what are they doing? They’re coming to Jesus to be taught, and they’re listening. Not everybody was comfortable with that. In verse 2 it says, and the Pharisees, and both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

God forbid. Here was a teacher trying to reach the sinners. Oh, look at that. How can he possibly associate himself with the immoral of our culture? They’re offended by the notion. Want to see the response of Jesus? Look at verse 3. It says, and he told them this parable saying, What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. And when he has found it, he lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

You know what Jesus says? He says, They’re my sheep too. These tax gatherers, these prostitutes, these immoral people that you’re rebuking me for associating with. He says, They’re my lost sheep. And I’m calling them home. And there were racial problems in Jesus’ day. There was a huge issue in the early church over Gentile conversion. How can we accept the Gentiles here? Oh, they had a hard time with that. And we’re going to accept them, but they’ve got to become Jews first. And they fussed about that. Two books of the Bible addressed that problem: Galatians and Hebrews. And sometimes it’s a problem for us. Honestly, folks, be honest. Do we ever have a problem going to make disciples of people of a different race? Are there some times that we look past those who are of a different economic status?

Do we look right over the poor? Do we write off the rich because we say to ourselves, they’ve got too much, they wouldn’t be interested. Are there times that we make assumptions about those whose lives are grossly immoral? Would we ever think about trying to teach a prostitute? Or a homosexual? Or do we even write