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David Hersey |
The Great Commission (Audio) |
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Evangelism |
July 17, 2011 |
Sunday AM Sermon |
The Great Commission
Matthew 28:18-20
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world. Amen."
We see a parallel
command from Jesus in Mark 16:15-17 where he commanded, "Go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes
and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned."
These two passages
and Luke 24:46-47 combined make up what we today sometimes refer to as
the 'Great Commission'. Matthew, Mark and Luke have this as the
last recorded commandment Jesus gave prior to His ascension back to
heaven. There are a lot of things in the words of Jesus here that
are significant to our lives as Christians. Jesus had completed
His earthly ministry, had been rejected by His own people. He had
been crucified and had arisen from the dead and had spent the last forty
days or so appearing to those who were believers in Him and speaking to
them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Jesus was done
teaching on the earth. It was time now for Him to return to Heaven
and rule over the coming kingdom of God which was due to be revealed in
about 10 days. The scriptures do not record any long parting
speeches. There is no record of any long and tearful goodbyes.
There is no evidence of any long discourses between Jesus and those whom
He had been His constant companions for the past three years or so.
There are many
definitions of the word commission. In this context, the word
'commission' means an authoritative order, charge, or direction.
Jesus finished up His earthly stay with directions regarding what His
disciples were to do from that time forward in His absence from the
physical realm. He also gave them words of comfort which would
serve to let them know that even though he was not physically
there, He would always be there with them in a way which would continue
to sustain, uplift and comfort them until such time that He would
return. So for the remainder of this lesson, we are going to look
at the 'Great Commission' of Jesus Christ and we will see that it is a
relevant today as it was the day it was spoken by our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
The Great Commission,
as the saints of all ages have consented to call it, constitutes the
marching orders of the Lord's church for that day and on until that
great day of the Lord which marks the end of man's walk on this earth.
It is unlikely that many passages of similar length are more filled with
divine truth than are these final words of Jesus before He left this
earth. The Great Commission contains within its words many distinctive
doctrines of the faith that is in Christ Jesus. These words are exactly
what one should have expected, and far more, from the lips of a
supernatural, divine Savior, at point of His departure to the eternal
world of the spirit, and uttering one last comprehensive face to face
command to his disciples with an application for all generations to
come.
1. Jesus said,
"All power is given unto me in heaven..." Power here is
speaking of authority.
This supports the
divinity of Christ. If these words had been spoken by a mere man or any
other created being, they would be nonsense. Therefore in this statement
Christ lays claim to His status as a member of the Godhead. There
is no way God, the Father is going to hand over all the authority in
heaven to a mere man. Jesus Christ was standing on the earth when
He made that statement, but He was much more than just a man in order to
make such a statement.
Ten times in the
Greek New Testament, Christ is actually called God (see John 1:1; 20:28;
Acts 20:28; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6; Hebrews 1:8; Titus 2:13; 2
Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20; Revelation 1:8; also Colossians 2:9 and John
14:9). Let's look at some of these.
Acts 20:28
"Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God
which He purchased with His own blood." We all know
that it was Jesus Christ who shed His blood on Calvary thereby being the
one who purchased the church with His own blood. But here the
inspired text referred to Him as God.
Philippians 2:5-6
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being
in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,"
Before leaving Heaven and coming down here to earth, Jesus was in the
form of God.
Hebrews 1:8-9, This
is God the Father doing the talking here, "But to the Son He says: "Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You
have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your
God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your
companions."
When God the Father
calls His Son, Jesus Christ God in the inspired record, not once but twice, you can be assured
that Jesus Christ is God. These and all the rest of the scriptures
which refer directly to Jesus Christ as God leave no doubt whatsoever
that Jesus Christ was in fact one of the three members of the Godhead
which are individually identified later on in the Great Commission.
And as if this was
not enough to convince one of the deity of Christ, let us consider the
many passages in which Jesus Christ laid claim to attributes of deity,
as for example when he said, "Before Abraham was, I am!"
The thought with this statement is one of eternal existence without
beginning or ending. Christ
is God come in the flesh. That is the central meaning and message of
Christianity. Anything less than this regarding Christ would be
blasphemous. I say this because there are those within the
so called religious community who claim Jesus Christ as their savior,
but deny His deity. They claim among many things that Jesus Christ
is a created being just like the angels and Satan. Such a belief
flies in the face of scripture and lessens the Glory of God in many ways
not the least of which calls God a liar when He Himself referred to
Jesus Christ as God.
2. "All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" In earth.
The authority of
Christ is supreme. Ephesians 1:19-2:1, "and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the
working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised
Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that
which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave
Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the
fullness of Him who fills all in all." Jesus is reigning
supreme in heaven and on earth. Jesus is a king, reigning right
now in heaven over the church which is His spiritual kingdom. He will
continue to reign until all his enemies have been put under foot,
notwithstanding, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (1
Corinthians 15:24,25).
3. "Go Ye"
The disciples were
instructed to go. That does not mean to set in services and wait
for visitors to show up at the assemblies. It means Go and carry
the message to the lost. Evangelism is the heartbeat of the
church. Without those to carry the gospel to the world, the church
will fade from existence and souls who might have been saved will be
lost.
God gave man the
responsibility of spreading the word. It has been entrusted to us.
God has left this up to us. This is an overwhelming responsibility
when you think about it. Jesus died and gave His life for the
church, and then left it up to us to tell the world about it. The
congregation here in Granby is here because someone evangelized. I
am grateful for this congregation. I want to see it continue to be
a light in this community. I would like for it to be here a
hundred years from now. But without evangelism, it will eventually
cease to exist. How do we make sure it's here for others in the
future? We "Go Ye".
4. "Go ye
therefore and make disciples" The KJV reads, "Go ye
therefore, and teach"
Teaching, as a
prerequisite of discipleship, is evident as one of the basic principles
of the faith. Infants cannot be taught, and therefore, in the true
view, they cannot become disciples until they are old enough to be
taught. The Great Commission is clearly opposed to infant church
membership. Christians don't just happen, they must be taught and
taught correctly. Christians are not born, they are "born again".
Infants and small children are not lost, therefore they are not dead in
sin. Those who are not dead in their sin do not need to be reborn.
5. "Of all the
nations"
Here is the
world-wide missionary program of the church. Here is the world-wide
brotherhood of all nations and races in Christ. God made of "one" all
the families of the earth (Acts 17:26), and that universal kinship and
brotherhood appear in the Great Commission. No limitation or abridgment
is permitted. All the nations ... not merely all "the English-speaking
nations" or "all the white nations," but all the nations!
Galatians 3:26-29, "For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of
you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are
Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
All Christians,
regardless of race or color are brethren in Christ. There is no
room in the heart of any faithful Christian for racial bigotry or
prejudice.
6. "Baptizing them"
Baptism is an
essential step in the making of disciples. Jesus chose to
specifically mention it here. It is understood that with the
command to baptize others is the requirement to be baptized.
Mark's account says in 16:16, "He who believes and is baptized will
be saved". If nothing else appeared in all the Bible relative
to the ordinance of baptism, Christ's mention of it in this circumstance
would have been more than sufficient to bind it upon all people for all
time to come.
There is a great
difference of opinion among the denominations as to the necessity and
mode of baptism in the life of a believer. The baptism of the
Great Commission cuts through all this and clearly identifies the one
baptism which is in effect today. The baptism of the Great
Commission is the one that can be submitted to and obeyed by the
believer. The baptism of the Great Commission is the one that can
be administered to others by mankind. Ephesians 4:5 says there is only
one baptism. That baptism can only be the baptism of the Great
Commission and that is the one which is an immersion and resurrection in
water.
It was the mission of
the early church to baptize believers, therefore that mission continues
today. Baptism is an essential and necessary step in the
evangelizing process of the world. Baptism is an essential and
necessary step for becoming a Christian.
7. "Baptizing them
Into the name"
This means Baptized
by the authority of and identified with. Ephesians 3:14-16, "For
this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15
from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" All
who have been baptized with the baptism of the Great Commission are identified with God as His
children, as His special people. Our association is no longer with
the world and the things therein. Our association is now with God
and the things not of this world.
8. "Of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". Here is the doctrine of the
Trinity. Although not stated in the Scriptures under that terminology,
the doctrine of the Trinity is nevertheless a true one, and appears
throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The pronouns for God in
Genesis are plural, as in "Let us make man in our image"
(Genesis 1:26). In the New Testament, the doctrine of the Trinity
appears in this passage, and at Christ's baptism (Matthew 3:16) which
reads, "When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the
water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a
voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased." In this context we have God the Son on earth
having just been baptized. We have God the Holy Spirit descending
upon God the Son like a dove and we have God the Father speaking His
approval from heaven. Three separate persons, one nature, so
united in purpose and direction that they are one.
9. "Teaching them to
observe all things" The perpetual mission of the church as a teacher
is implicit in these words. Here is the necessity for indoctrination and
grounding all the disciples in the Savior's teaching. Here is the divine
authority for the Bible School, the house meeting, the mid-week service,
the evangelistic campaign, and whatever else may be useful in carrying
out the divine injunction to teach the baptized to observe all that Christ commanded.
This is how baptized
believers are grounded in the truth. This is how babes in Christ
are fed, nurtured and brought to maturity. Jesus did not stop with His
instruction to baptize. The responsibilities with discipleship are
more far reaching than just making Christians. The responsibility
of the church does not stop there. We are to follow up with
teaching. And what we are to teach is summed up by Jesus in words
that are all inclusive of His whole life of teaching. The
instructions were to teach new Christians to observe everything:
10. "Whatsoever I have
commanded you" ... This establishes the identity of the true doctrine
of Christ. It is what Christ commanded, nothing else. The
most important identifying characteristic of genuine
Christianity is that it is "of Christ." The true faith was "first
spoken" by him (Hebrews 2:3), and not by any other: Whatsoever was not
first spoken by the Lord and confirmed by those who heard him can have
no valid claim as a part of Christianity. Not even the Holy Spirit came
to reveal new truth to the apostles but to "bring all things to their
remembrance" (John 14:26; 16:13). In practical fact, this limits true
Christianity to what is taught in the New Testament, for that is the
only book that contains the authenticated teachings of the Master. With
the death of the last of the apostles who heard and confirmed to others
what Jesus taught, the revelation of God's true will for mankind was
concluded. Many passages in the New Testament make that crystal clear.
People are commanded not to go beyond what is written (1 Corinthians
4:6); the apostles gave all "things that pertain" to life and godliness
(2 Peter 1:3); the true faith was "once for all" delivered
to the saints (Jude 3), recorded by "inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
In the light of this,
how much of present-day religious practice and doctrine is useless?
Baptizing of babies,
countless innovations in the worship, the doctrine of purgatory,
penances, redemption of penances, and literally scores of other
doctrines, devices, and presumptions of men, all which are identified as
forming a part of Christianity, but it is not so. Christ taught none of
those things. They were not first spoken by him, and they were not
revealed by the apostles. We can look back and know who, when and
where manmade innovations and practices were
introduced into the church and brought into the the worship and practice
of Christianity. Jesus said on one occasion in Matthew 15:8-9, "These
people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."
If something was not
first spoken by Jesus and revealed by the apostles or other inspired
writers, then it must be rejected. It cannot be a part of the
faith.
11. "And lo, I am with
you always" This teaches the providence of God for His church. God has not wound up
his universe, or his church, and left them to run of their own accord
leaving them to their fate. He "upholdeth all things by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3). Christ
promised to be with his disciples always. A concerned and loving
God always watches over the members and activities of His people.
Telling His disciples
He would be with them always was also going to be a great comfort for
them because He was about to ascend into Heaven and they needed to know
that He was with them, even if they could not see Him. Jesus was
about to leave them behind on earth, but they needed to know they were
not being abandoned. The application for us today is the same.
Even though we cannot see Jesus Christ, we know from the Great
Commission that He is with us. He is with His church. He is
reigning His spiritual kingdom from the right hand side of God the
Father and He is with us still and will be with us until the end of this
age and beyond.
12. "Even unto the
end of the age." The King James translates this as the
end of the world. This is the doctrine of the final destruction of the entire
material creation, specifically of the earth and all that is in it and
the heavens, meaning everything not on the earth itself. The apostle
Peter elaborated on this (2 Peter 3:1-13). This creation is destined to
be burned up. The means by which this will be accomplished is not
certainly known.
In the light of Christ's word
in the Great Commission, and in view of Peter's words on the same subject, the end
of this world is certain. "No man knoweth the day nor the hour" (Matthew
24:36). The conclusion that thoughtful men should derive from these
considerations is well stated by Peter who said, "Wherefore, beloved,
seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be
found in peace" (2 Peter 3:14).
Mark 13:32-37
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you
do not know when the time is. 34 It is like a man going to a far
country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to
each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 Watch
therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming —
in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the
morning — 36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I
say to you, I say to all: Watch!"
NKJV
Going back and
looking at the great commission as a whole, we see the commands:
Go, Make disciples, Baptize and Teach obedience. Who are we
supposed to baptize and teach? All nations.
Jesus was giving His
disciples the farewell instructions of how to proceed with the spreading
of the gospel and the growth of His kingdom. His work on earth as
a flesh and blood man was finished. He was passing the
responsibility of discipleship and the continuation of Christianity to
mankind. We are commanded to Go, Make disciples, Baptize and Teach
obedience. That is how mankind is converted to Christ. That
is how Christians are made. That is how the church, the body of
Christ, lives, thrives, grows and continues on this earth.
We cannot add
anything to this, we certainly cannot take anything away from it.
If mankind fails to 'go' as commanded, the church of the new testament
will not continue. If mankind fails to 'make disciples' as
commanded, the church of the new testament will vanish from the face of
the earth. If mankind fails to 'baptize' as commanded, the church
of the new testament will cease to exist. If mankind fails to
'teach obedience' as commanded, the church of the new testament will be
replaced by the churches of men.
Invitation:
Are you a Christian today? Have you been baptized into Jesus
Christ (Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3), for the remission of your sins
(Acts 2:38; 22:16, Colossians 2:13). Have you appealed to God for
a clear conscience? (1 Peter 3:21). Have you been buried with
Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:12), into His death (Romans 6:3) and raised
to walk in newness of life? (Romans 6:4). Newness of life is our
rebirth. Have you been born again (John 3:7). Have all your
trespasses been forgiven? (Colossians 2:13). Have you been added
to the church by God? (Acts 2:47), are you saved? (Mark 16:16).
If not, we encourage
you to take this step. To become a child of God, to become a part
of the family of God, to be placed into Christ, to be forgiven, to be
reborn, to be saved.
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