I recently preached a sermon series called Commit at my church on what biblically committed church membership looks like. This post is based off of the eleventh sermon in that series.
Sermon Text: Matt 28:16-20
Today is the last sermon in our Commit sermon series and I think it’s a fitting end. I want to quickly summarize the series.
In our first sermon, I preached from Acts 2:36-47. There, we saw the pattern that we see throughout the New Testament. The gospel is preached. People are converted to Christ, baptized, and added to a local church.
Next, I preached on the importance of committing to a local church through believer’s baptism and church membership. The last seven sermons have covered what committed church membership looks like.
- Regular attendance and involvement
- Submitting to God’s Word
- Fervent prayer
- Generous giving
- Serving faithfully
- Biblical fellowship
- Church discipline / rescuing those caught in sin
Our final sermon in this series is going to focus on the biblical plan for church growth. We all want our church to grow both numerically and spiritually. So, how do we do it according to God’s Word?
Some of us tend to think about church this way: We attend services when it’s convenient and we take away what helps us to feel better about ourselves and yet we have little concern for others.
But Jesus has given His church a mission in which He calls every believer to participate. This mission is found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.
Matt 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The theme of evangelism and discipleship is a major theme of Jesus’ post-resurrection teaching (Matt 28:16-20; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21-22; Acts 1:8). Since Jesus repeatedly emphasizes this, we as His disciples cannot miss this important command.
BIG IDEA: The mission of every church is to make disciples of Jesus that glorify God with their entire lives.
Context
Jesus rose from the grave probably within the past week or two before he gave the Great Commission. Both before and after his resurrection, Jesus had directed His disciples to meet him in Galilee. He had already appeared to his 11 disciples in John 20-21, where we read that He restored Peter after Peter had denied Jesus.
Verse 16 reiterates that “the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.” The text doesn’t tell us who all was present when Jesus gave the Great Commission. Obviously from v. 16 we know the eleven disciples were there, but some commentators believe that it was the group of more than 500 that Paul mentions in 1 Cor 15:6.
So, that’s the context. Jesus is with his 11 disciples and possibly more. He knows that in a few weeks he will be returning to the Father and he gives his disciples clear instructions to make more disciples.
To make disciples, we must submit to Jesus’ authority (17-18)
“When they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.” (v. 17)
Jesus’ worth is the fuel of our mission and his worship is the goal of our mission. John Piper says, “Missions exist because worship doesn’t.”
“Missions exist because worship doesn’t.”
John Piper
There are people that do not know Jesus or worship him and they are headed to hell. I read this week that over 147,000 people die every day without Christ.
“some doubted”
Perhaps some of the 11 disciples doubted their ability to carry on the mission without Jesus. If more than the 11 disciples were present, perhaps some of the other people had a hard time believing in Jesus’ resurrection.
To reassure them, Jesus comes toward them. The text says, “Jesus came and said to them” (v. 18). And look at the words that Jesus spoke: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (v. 18).
Jesus is not just Lord of the Jews. He is Lord over all nations. He is the exalted and resurrected Son of God. We often speak of Jesus being our personal Lord and Savior. We might say, “I decided to make Jesus my Lord and Savior.”
The reality is that we do not decide to make Jesus Lord. Jesus is Lord whether we choose to acknowledge that fact or not. Jesus is not just our personal Lord and Savior, but the universal Lord and Savior over all. Jesus is not just the King of the Jews, but the King of every nation.
If you read the Gospels, you will see Jesus’ authority over nature, over disease, demons, and even death (Mark 5).
Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, and he has authority over our lives. He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him. We are to submit to the lordship of Christ.
To make disciples, we must follow Jesus’ plan (19-20a)
Jesus spoke to the masses but spent much of his time with the 12 disciples. What is a disciple? A disciple is a learner or a follower. A disciples is someone who seeks to learn from a more experienced rabbi.
In short, a disciple of Jesus is a genuine, lifelong follower of Jesus. In the New Testament, the word disciple is used 269 times. The word Christian is used three times. The word believer is used two times. It’s clear that Jesus wants us to make disciples rather than just people who mentally assent to biblical truths.
So, what is Jesus’ plan? To make disciples. To make disciples is the imperative in these verses. There are three participles in the text that correspond to the three steps of making disciples:
- Go with the gospel.
- Baptize those who respond.
- Teach them to obey Jesus.
(1) First, we are to go and tell the good news of the gospel (19)
Even if we don’t serve as vocational missionaries, we are called to be missionaries in our context (Matt 4:19). We all know people that are not Christians. Disciples are to be on mission for Jesus by sharing the message of Jesus. We think of evangelism as knocking on doors but think of relationships you already have (work, neighbors, family, sports, school).
As Christians, we need to get outside of our comfort zone and go to where non-believers are and be a witness among them. Here are some practical tips for evangelism:
- Pray for lost people you know.
- Love them enough to get to know them.
- Invite them into your home.
- The more of a relationship you have with someone the more effectively you can share hard truths with them.
- Use a tool. There are many good gospel tracts available.
The word translated “nations” is ethne, which means people groups – every tribe, nation, and tongue. Christianity isn’t just for middle class Americans in Poinsett County. It’s for every tribe, nation, and tongue.
Rev 7:9-10
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
So, we go with the gospel. Second, we baptize those who respond.
(2) “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19)
Those who respond to the gospel in repentance and faith are to be baptized. Baptism is an outward symbol of an inward transformation. When someone is baptized, he is going public with his faith. He is identifying as a Christian and proclaiming that he belongs to the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Baptism does not save you, but it does point to the reality that your sins have been washed away because of the work of Jesus (Titus 3:4-7). Christians must be baptized in obedience to Jesus. To neglect baptism is to disobey and dishonor Jesus.
Baptism is not the finish line, but it is the starting point of new life in Christ.
Baptism is not the finish line, but it is the starting point of new life in Christ.
So, we go with the gospel. We baptize those who respond. And third, we teach new believers how to obey Jesus in all of life for the rest of life.
(3) “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (v. 20)
After someone responds to the gospel and is baptized, we are to teach that person how to follow Jesus Christ. We as disciples are supposed to show this new Christian how to read and apply God’s Word, how to pray, how to worship, how to share the gospel, how to manage their money, how to love their families, and more. When someone decides that they want to follow Christ, that is not the end—it’s the beginning!
Personally, I came to Christ at a young age (8-10) but my parents were not Christians. No one helped me grow spiritually for several years. Then, in college God used several people to help me grow in my faith.
The typical practice in many churches is that after someone walks down the aisle we say, “God bless you, good luck.” We pat ourselves on the back and say mission accomplished. Then we wonder why we don’t see them after a few months. One pastor says, “Many Christians are frustrated because they know what to do but they’ve never been taught how to do it.” I think he’s right, and I think those people will either stop going to church altogether or they will go somewhere where they will be shown how to grow.
How many of you have been shown how to read the Bible by a more mature believer? How to pray? How to share the gospel?
In Mark 3:14 Jesus calls his disciples to be with him. Jesus spent three years living with his disciples and training them and we think Sunday school is sufficient. We think of teaching with more of a western mindset. We tend to think of teaching in a classroom whereas the eastern idea of teaching implies a relationship – being with someone personally.
Again the more relationship you have the more influence and the more truth you can speak into their life.
1 Cor 11:1
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
If someone watched your life, would they learn how to be a disciple of Christ? We are called to make disciples and not just converts. Jesus did not say, “If anyone would follow me, He must pray this prayer.” He said, “If anyone would follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
“Maybe the reason that we are making fewer converts is because we have failed to disciple the converts we have made.” (Jared Wilson)
Once we teach a new Christian how to be a disciple, now it is their turn to replicate the process. It’s clear from this text—a disciple of Jesus makes disciples of Jesus, and a church that worships Jesus is to be a church that makes disciples of Jesus.
None of us can do all the work of the ministry. We must train and equip others, and that starts with me as the pastor of the church (Eph 4:11-12).
To make disciples, we must depend on the presence of Christ (20b)
Lastly, some encouragement. Jesus promises to be with us. Look at the last part of verse 20—“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This mission of making disciples is not to be done alone, but by the power of Jesus living in us through the Holy Spirit. The mission is not based on who we are or what we can do, but it is based on who Jesus is and what He is able to do in us and through us.
Near the beginning of Matthew (Matt 1:23), Jesus was called “Immanuel” which means “God with us.” As Jesus gets ready to go back to the Father, he promises that he will be with us.
All authority and heaven and on earth are his and he promises his presence until he returns.
The mission of every church is to make disciples of Jesus that glorify God with their entire lives.
The Great Commission is the defining mandate for us as individuals and as a church. We must be with Christ after the lost.
CONCLUSION
The Great Commission is not a comfortable call inviting Christians to be baptized and sit in one location, but to make disciples by going to the lost, baptizing those that respond to Christ, and teaching them to obey all that He commanded.
Are we as a church willing to follow King Jesus’ plan to build his church?
Will we commit to making disciples and not just settle for decisions?
Will we seek to help each new Christian that God sends our way grow in spiritual maturity so that he or she can help reach and disciple others?
Who is someone you can share the gospel with?
Who is someone you can personally disciple?
Personally, what will be your spiritual legacy?