Commission Problems
Notes
Transcript
The Great Commission, as it’s known, is very familiar to us. A few years ago, thanks to a sermon from Tyler (one of our elders), we repeat this commission from Jesus weekly. At the end of each worship gathering, we all read these words out loud. Hopefully, we’re committing these words to memory.
More than that, I pray these words are written on our hearts; that we would not just hear these words or merely speak these words, but put these words into action.
>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Matthew 28. As you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word.
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!
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I want to spend some time on the last phrase of the commission here today. We went through every part of verses 16-20 last week, except for the last phrase of verse 20.
We need to spend some time there.
It’s the last phrase of Matthew’s Gospel. It’s part of the Bible; of course, it’s significant. But it might just be the most significant part of the Great Commission.
This might just be the most significant part of the Great Commission, because, you see, we’re faced with some problems. We’ve got some commission problems, but there’s an answer for each one.
Jesus starts the Great Commission with His authority. All authority is His. He’s the One giving us this commission, this task. He’s in charge, not only of us—His followers—but His authority covers all things, in heaven and on earth.
From His authority springs our commission, our great task. Great authority, great task. Namely, MAKE DISCIPLES. By going, baptizing, and teaching.
We—Jesus’ disciples—are called to carry on the mission of Jesus.
Throughout the book of Matthew, there are five major discourses. Five major sections of teaching from Jesus.
Here, after the events recorded—the death, burial, and resurrection—Jesus doesn’t launch into a teaching discourse.
Here, after Jesus’ resurrection, the teaching moves to Jesus’ disciples. We—His followers—are called to carry on the mission of Jesus.
We have Jesus’ authority. Jesus has given us our commission, our task. But there are some issues. We face a few problems.
Problem #1 - Failure to disciple
Problem #1 - Failure to disciple
There has been a failure to disciple. This isn’t a criticism; it’s just a reality. I don’t know how else to put it. In large part, the church has, throughout the years, failed to make disciples.
The church over the years has seen a large number of people come and go. Individual churches may baptize a whole mess of people.
We get people to come to the worship gathering, maybe Sunday School, maybe a church camp or two, but are there disciples making disciples?
I’m speaking here of my own failure to disciple. I teach and I preach. I’ve taken kids to church camp and CIY, but I’ve not done enough by way of making disciples. I want people to know Jesus, to be closely connected with Him. There’s more—much more—I could be doing.
D.A. Carson writes “our failure to disciple, baptize, and teach the peoples of the world is already one of the failures of our own discipleship.”
In large part, this is true. In large part, we don’t disciple because we’ve not been discipled ourselves. At some point in the history of the church, we left the discipleship process up to a few leaders of the church. Or we’ve decided an hour or two on Sunday is sufficient.
Maybe, though, it’s just that we don’t take the commission seriously enough.
And what we’re left with is a bunch of “Un-discipled Christians.”
We have church buildings filled with baby Christians who don’t know God’s Word. We have people who call themselves “Christians” but aren’t concerned about doing what Jesus has said. There are many shallow believers whose faith gets choked-out by the cares of the world. The seed falls among the thorns, as it were.
If we aren’t discipling others, it might well be an issue of our own discipleship.
This is a problem.
Problem #2 - It’s an Enormous Task
Problem #2 - It’s an Enormous Task
What Jesus has commissioned His disciples to do is no small thing. It’s a lofty task: Make disciples of all nations. This is referring to all the people. People from every nation, tribe, language, tongue.
It’s a command from the Risen Jesus. It’s founded on His authority. These truths help us on our mission, but that doesn’t make the task any less daunting.
We can’t say we don’t know what to do. Jesus has told us what to do and how to do it. But it’s tough. It’s gonna take a lot of work, a lot of effort. It’s costly; it’ll take time.
Even more, it takes willingness. People have to be willing to be discipled. And there has to be a willingness on the behalf of those who are further along in their walk with Jesus to make disciples.
And we’re all pretty busy, aren’t we?
We all have plenty to do, but I’m not sure everything we fill our time with is as important as Jesus’ command to make disciples.
This is a difficult task, an enormous task Jesus has placed before us.
Just here in this small part of Christ’s church, it’s an enormous thing. We have so many young people (which is a blessing, but it makes the job that much bigger).
There are several people here who are new in their faith. They need someone who is further along spiritually to sit with them, to study with them, to teach them, to pray with them.
It’s going to take the combined effort of all who are disciples of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. And the enormity of the task is enough to keep people from doing anything.
To push beyond this second problem, we could go straight to Problem #3 for the true diagnostic.
Problem #3 - It’s Humanly Impossible
Problem #3 - It’s Humanly Impossible
We can’t accomplish the task. I’m unable to accomplish this. You’re unable to accomplish this. It’s too much. Even with all our effort and all of our time, there’s no way we could ever get this job done. We don’t have it in us.
What Jesus has commanded, the task He’s given, isn’t just for the disciples in the first century. It’s for them. It’s given to the 11 there in Galilee with Jesus. But this is the task of the church as a whole. It’s ongoing.
There are people who have not been discipled. I’d dare say there are MANY people who have not been discipled—around the world and right here in this building.
And I feel the weight of that. I have failed to lead a discipleship effort here in Rich Hill.
Sunday School is good. Wednesday Night Bible Study is good. But they aren’t enough.
The task is given to all of us—to the Church—is to teach all the nations to obey/observe everything Jesus has commanded.
It’s not just teaching them what Jesus has commanded. We might be able to get the information out there if that was all Jesus commanded.
But we haven’t even done that. There are 7,391 unreached people groups in the world. That amounts to nearly 3.5 billion people who have not heard the name of Jesus. The Church is still working to get the name of Jesus to the world.
But Jesus calls us to teach [all the people] to obey everything [He] has commanded. That’s unbelievably difficult.
It’s more than difficult. It’s more than just an enormous task. It is humanly impossible, this commission from Jesus.
This is a problem (one of many). We’re faced with several problems where the Great Commission is concerned.
The answer is found in the last phrase of Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus says: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
What’s the answer to these problems with this commission?
Answer: The Daily and Eternal Presence of our Risen Savior
Answer: The Daily and Eternal Presence of our Risen Savior
At the end of His commission to His disciples, Jesus gives this crucial element of discipleship: the reminder and recognition His presence. This is the answer!
Jesus begins His conclusion by saying,
“And surely…”
To this I say, “Don’t call me ‘Shirley’.” (Sorry, Airplane joke).
“Surely” or “Behold” or “Lo” is simply a way of emphasizing the following statement. Jesus wants His disciples to pay special attention to what He’s about to tell them.
We need to pay attention, too!
We cannot too often set our eyes and fix our thoughts on this truth. That’s why Jesus gets our attention here: “Look! Behold! Take notice! Listen up!”
“And surely I am…”
“I am”
The pronoun “I” must be viewed as emphatic. Jesus says, “I am”, as if to tell His disciples that they must not consider what they can do.
They need to focus on and rely upon the invincible power of the One speaking to them, not whatever pathetic power or ability they can muster.
Jesus will empower. Jesus will help. Jesus will strengthen His disciples on the mission He has given to them.
“I am,” says Jesus.
The Resurrected Jesus is the answer to all the problems we face with this commission.
If Jesus had died and stayed dead, there’d be no mission. If Jesus had died and stayed dead, and His followers decided to carry on with some mission, it would be doomed from the start. What would even be the point?!
But Jesus, the Great I AM, conquered sin and death. He absorbed the wrath of God you and I deserve. He willingly laid down His life. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. And on the third day rose to new life!
“The resurrection of Jesus is the springboard for mission. The disciples can go and proclaim the good news (18–20) only because of the resurrection. Without it there would be nothing to declare. But because of it, how can they keep silent? It is the most exciting news in the whole world. It should be impossible for believers to refrain from mission.”
The Risen Jesus is the One issuing and giving strength to His disciples to do this great task. He says, “I am.”
By this, Jesus means “your major resource is I!” “I, not some divine attribute, provision, or even promise, but I—myself—Jesus.”
Jesus is telling His disciples (and us): “Do not look to your own resources.”
The power to keep Jesus’ commands in the preceding sentences is supplied by the “I” of this last sentence.
“And surely I am with you…”
The “you” here is plural. It’s not a personal promise, though it’s not less than that. It’s plural—it’s you all. “And surely I am with you all—all y’all.”
The Triune God promising to be with His people is by far the most common expression of reassurance in the Bible.
Jesus’ promise to be with all of us means not only protection and defense, but it means especially that Jesus promises to be with those who fulfill the Great Commission He has given us.
When you tell your co-worker about Jesus, He’s there with you; you’re not alone.
When you want to tell your neighbor the Good News about Jesus, you’re not alone; He’s there with you.
Jesus is with His Church, never to leave us or forsake us; He’s with us all, all the time.
This isn’t just a religious nicety. The disciples need Jesus with them (us)—the life of the disciple isn’t all puppy dogs and rainbows and fairy tale kisses; the life of the disciple will consist of trouble and hardship, martyrdom and death for most of them; persecution lies ahead, guaranteed. There are valleys, to be sure. Some mountaintop moments, but a lot of difficulty.
And because of that, we all need to know: Jesus is with us all.
“God with us” is my favorite theme in the Bible. You can trace it all the way through from Genesis to Revelation.
Jesus draws our attention here to the truth that He is with us as we go about this great, daunting task. If you ask me, there’s nothing better than that. There’s nothing more bracing, more steadying than a reminder of His presence.
“And surely I am with you always…”
Always is a Greek idiom meaning, “the whole of every day.”
That kind of blows me over. The beauty of that phrase. The truth of that phrase.
Always as a word on its own can, over time, kind of lose its flavor, can’t it?
Jesus tells us, “I am with you always.” And it can go in one ear and out the other, especially if you’ve spent any amount of time in church.
There is more to this word than meets the eye. Just like Jesus tells us to “make disciples of all nations” Jesus is here telling us, reminding us, encouraging us that He Himself is with us “always [literally: all the days].”
“All the days” means not just “most days” or “good days”
“All the days” doesn’t mean just those days His disciples feel spiritually fit, or just the days when they’ve prayed enough or behaved well enough.
“All the days” means all days.
“The whole of every day”—don’t you like the way that sounds?
Jesus assures us of His presence “the whole of every day.” That is, good days, bad days, every day in between—every part of every day.
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus promises His presence to us all—in the whole of every day—and until “the very end of the age”
“The very end of the age” is “the consummation of the age”
“The very end of the age” is “the tying-up of history”
“The very end of the age” means until the moment Jesus returns.
“The very end of the age” has the sense of the completion of all things (telos).
“The very end of the age” means from the moment of the resurrection until He makes all things new.
Jesus is with us spiritually until He’ll be with us physically and personally—from now until He comes again; from now until Jesus’ return; from now until the absolute end of this world’s history.
What, then, can’t we endure?
Because Jesus Himself is with us until He is with us, we can endure whatever might be thrown at us.
Because Jesus Himself is with us until He is with us, we can take the Gospel into the whole world, making disciples of all nations, no matter the tests and persecution that will face us.
Jesus promises His perfect presence “right up until the end”—and this means His Church is invincible; His message is unstoppable.
“Jesus-with-us” means we will make it.
>These words weren’t spoken to the apostles alone. The LORD promises His assistance, not for a single age only, but to the end of the world. All who minister of the gospel will be guarded by the ever-present Jesus.
The Daily and Eternal Presence of Jesus makes all the difference in our mission.
The resurrection of Jesus means that His power and His presence are always available to us.
Disciples down throughout the centuries have rejoiced, and still do, in the constant presence of the mighty, Risen Christ.
The constant presence of the Risen Christ who is both the ultimate controller of all circumstances and the strength they need for untiring service.
Jesus, in His infinite wisdom; Jesus, in His sovereign grace sandwiches the Great Commission between His authority and His presence.
The disciples of Jesus aren’t left alone to complete this great task. They aren’t on their own.
They have the assurance and the promise of Jesus’ presence with them always; Jesus’ presence with them to the very end of the age.
Jesus will be with them each and every moment. He will be with them powerfully. He will be spiritually with each of His people, until He returns for His Church and comes to judge the quick and the dead.
R.T. France writes: “So here it is to the commissioned disciples as they set about their daunting task that the divine presence is promised, without which they cannot be expected to succeed.”
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This line is the perfect bookend.
At the very beginning of Matthew, we read about the angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph, telling him that his betrothed would give birth to a son. The angel told Joseph: “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew tells us that what the angel tells Joseph “took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet” Isaiah, who wrote: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)
Matthew’s Gospel has, on both sides of it, the twin bookends of God’s with-us-assurance:
1. The baby born to Mary will be called Immanuel—that is “God with us”
2. The Resurrected Savior and Messiah, Jesus, tells His followers, “I will be with you always.” = God Himself with us always.
“God with us” and “God with us”
Let that truth surround your life.
Let those twin bookends hold you up: “God with us” and “God with us.”
Let God’s Word tuck you in on all sides: “God with us”and “God with us.”
Hear Jesus say to you, Church, as we prepare for the mission He’s calling us to, as we strive in His power to make disciples… hear the Risen Jesus say: “And surely I am with (all of) you always, to the very end of the age.”