Members Make Disciples
Clarify, Unify, Glorify in Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
ME (A hook):
ME (A hook):
Imagine you are driving along,
And your car just starts making this terrible grinding noise!
Lucky for you,
Immediately after hearing this noise,
You see a sign that says,
“New Mechanic Shop Opening Today!”
So, you pull in,
And you ask the person behind the counter if they can take a look.
They begin talking about cars and motors and the drive train and how it all works.
And nodding along, you say,
“That’s great, so can you fix my car?”
“Well,” he says,
“ You see, my parents were mechanics,
And they told me to go, become a mechanic, and fix cars.
So, I became a mechanic,
I opened this shop here,
I know everything there is to know about engines,
And I am very passionate about seeing cars get repaired,
But I’ve never actually fixed a car myself.
And to be honest,
I am a little anxious about even trying.”
You would be stunned!
Here you are,
With a problem that needs fixing,
A guy who knows how to fix it,
Who calls himself a mechanic,
But does nothing to fix the problem.
I tell you what,
It won’t take long for his mechanic shop to close down.
Because a mechanic fixes cars.
In the same way,
Members Go & Make Disciples.
When we don’t,
We are like a mechanic who doesn’t fix cars.
Making disciples is an inherent purpose of being a member.
This is what we see in Matt. 28:16-20,
The very end of Matthew’s Gospel narrative.
This is also the conclusion of our Clarify to Unify to Glorify series through Matthew’s Gospel.
Lord willing next week,
We will have one of our missionaries,
John Patton,
Here to bring the Word.
Then we will do a Christmas and New Years series called Light in the Lament through the OT book of Lamentations.
But this morning,
As we come to the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel,
We come back to where we started,
Clarifying what Jesus taught about biblical membership.
We have learned from Jesus’ birth,
His teachings and miracles,
And the past two weeks,
His death and resurrection.
Now, we come to the Great Commission.
The commission that Jesus has given to every single member of His Body.
And just like a mechanic doesn’t only study how to fix a car,
We don’t just analyze the Great Commission,
Though there is much to think through!
These final five verses must stir our hearts,
Both individually as members,
And corporately as a body,
With a renewed zeal to Go and Make disciples here in Afton and to the end of the earth.
Since Jesus’ Words here carry extreme significance.
Slide
We will break these words up into three parts:
Members Trust in Christ’s Authority (vs. 16-18)
Members Obey Christ’s Commission (vs. 19-20a)
Members Depend on Christ’s Presence (vs. 20b)
Live with a longing for the day of Christ that compels us to go and make disciples to bring about the day of Christ.
WE Members Trust in Christ’s Authority (16-18) (Why does this matter to us?):
WE Members Trust in Christ’s Authority (16-18) (Why does this matter to us?):
So, let’s dive in.
It is easy to forget that in Matthew’s account,
Slide
This is the first time the disciples are seeing Jesus since He has risen from the dead.
So, they go to Galilee,
Where the angel and Jesus instructed the Marys to direct the disciples to go earlier in this chapter.
So, when the disciples first see Him in vs. 17,
They worship Him!
They bow down,
Expressing their reverence and adoration for Him!
Except, Matthew says,
For some of them.
While some worshiped,
It says others doubted.
And the other Gospels give more details to this doubt.
They were clearly still wavering in their confidence since the crucifixion.
Which, going back to what we talked about last week,
Also undermines the alternative explanations given for the empty tomb.
But it is in the context of this mixture of worship and doubt,
Where the resurrected Lord Jesus gives the Great Commission.
This gets at why Matthew wrote this Gospel.
He could have just stopped after the resurrection.
But instead,
Matthew ends with a mission Jesus gave to His disciples.
A mission that still continues to today,
Making this passage so incredibly precious.
Because we are a part of this passage!
We are the disciples Jesus told His disciples to make,
And we are also direct recipients of His commission.
But before ever giving this command,
The first thing He actually says to His disciples,
Is that all authority on heaven and earth has been given to Him.
Now, it is important we understand,
Jesus already had authority before this.
We see examples all throughout the Gospel.
But it is through the resurrection,
Jesus is saying the Father has given Him all authority over heaven and earth.
This is significant,
Because elsewhere,
The Bible says God allows Satan to rule over earth.
And going all the way back to chapter 4,
Satan tried to offer this rule to Jesus.
But by having all authority over earth,
It means,
Jesus’ authority is greater than the rule Satan has.
It is far greater than what Satan offered Jesus in the desert.
Slide
This authority Jesus is given,
Fulfills the prophecy about a son of man in Dan. 7:13-14,
Which says,
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This is the authority Jesus is saying the Father has given Him.
And it is the basis for everything else He is about to say.
Now, we talked about His authority last week,
His death and resurrection are evidence of His absolute authority.
But before He died,
He spoke of how His authority would be displayed.
Slide
While He was being interrogated,
Matthew 26:64 (ESV)
Jesus said to [Caiaphas], “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Here, at this moment in time at the end of Matthew,
The final stage of history begins,
The stage where Jesus is exalted to the right hand of the Father as Lord over all creation.
The stage that has continued today,
And will continue until Christ returns in glory.
As we saw in Phil. 2 last week,
On that day every knee is going to bow,
And every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
That is the day we long for.
Because Jesus is worthy of worship!
And we want to invite everyone to share in the joy of this worship!
The Bible says, Jesus died to save some from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
This is incredibly life-changing,
Especially at this moment in salvation history.
Because we had Jewish disciples following a Jewish Messiah,
Who had a predominately Jewish heritage,
And was labeled the King of the Jews at His death.
Yet, He is intent on showing His Jewish disciples that He is Lord over all people!
Consider some of the examples of His lordship throughout Matthew.
In Matthew 8:26,
Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm,
Matt. 4:23-24 says...
Matthew 4:23–24 (ESV)
Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.
Jesus would just speak,
And the blind would see,
The lame would walk,
Lepers were healed,
Diseases were cured,
And perhaps most impressive of all,
Demons would flee.
Slide
Then in Matt. 9, Jesus healed a paralytic,
But more importantly,
Told the man his sins are forgiven.
So, Jesus has authority over sin!
He has the authority to forgive sins,
And as we saw with His resurrection,
He has authority over the payment of sin,
Death.
So, these examples of Jesus’ authority,
Demonstrate how His authority extends to every single one of our lives as well.
Both in the here and now,
And in the future.
Slide
What does He say to us with this authority in the here and now?
Matthew 16:24–25 (ESV)
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
As members of Christ’s body,
We deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him gladly!
Because this is how we find life!
Likewise, when it comes to the Great Commission,
We gladly submit to whatever and wherever Jesus calls us to.
Secondly, when it comes to His authority over our lives in the future,
Slide
Jesus says,
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
This is why we go and make disciples of all nations.
We don’t obey the Great Commission on the basis of any human authority.
This is not a man-made program,
It is not fueled by our own grit, determination, and can-do attitudes.
It is the authority of Jesus Christ,
The Lord of the universe,
That compels us to go!
In fact,
It only makes sense if He has all authority on heaven and earth.
So, we must go!
And we can’t go reluctantly,
As if we are just being forced.
No, we go because He is worthy!
He is worthy of all praise from every person of all time!
His worthiness stirs in us a desire to hear people confess Him as Lord!
When we go and make disciples,
We are going,
To make worshippers of Jesus!
Who together with us,
Long for the day that is pictured in Revelation,
Where some from every tribe, tongue, and nation are gathered around Him in His throne room,
Crying out, “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
This is what compels us to go and make disciples,
Even into difficult places.
This gives us confidence to tell our coworkers, neighbors, and family members,
That they need to trust in Jesus because He is worth it!
If what we have read in Matthew is true,
If He died on the cross for our sins,
And He rose from the grave in victory over sin and death,
And He reigns as Lord over all,
Then they need to know!
And we need to tell them!
We cannot sit back and say nothing.
Jesus’ worth gives us confidence!
His authority tells us that we have been sent to the nations by the sovereign King of the nations!
One of the promises we have as we do this,
Is that His gospel message will save people!
This is true no matter where we are,
Or how unlikely it may seem that someone will believe.
Because the gospel is powerful!
Do you believe that?
We can have confidence in Christ’s purposes for His body!
We can be certain His mission will succeed,
Because His authority guarantees it!
In His exalted position at the right hand of the Father,
Where He is reigning right now at this moment,
He is actively empowering His members,
Guiding, directing, and providing us with everything we need to bring His mission to completion.
Slide
He guarantees us of this in Matthew 24:14,
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Brothers and sisters,
We are on the front lines of a spiritual battle for the souls of men and women made in the image of God all around the world.
And the sovereign Son of God,
Our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ,
Is our commander,
Who has given us a mission that will be accomplished.
GOD Members Obey Christ’s Commands (19-20a) (Teach the text):
GOD Members Obey Christ’s Commands (19-20a) (Teach the text):
Slide
Because,
Based on His authority,
Members Obey Christ’s Commission,
As we see in vs. 19-20a.
In light of His authority over heaven and earth,
Jesus says,
“Go!”
“And make disciples!”
“Go, and make a people who trust Jesus,
Who spend their lives becoming more and more like Him.”
That is what Jesus is saying to do.
And since He has universal authority,
He wants us to make disciples of all nations.
This is not a call to comfort.
This is not a call to come and sit in a worship service,
To participate in the life of the church,
To serve in the church,
To give to the church.
But this is what we are tempted to turn our mission into.
This is a call to make disciples.
But I wonder,
How many churches are filled with people who have been members of a church for 5, 10, 15,
Maybe even 50 years,
But have never led someone to Christ?
Have we, brothers and sisters, completely missed our mission?
Dawson Trotman wrote this convicting book called Born to Reproduce.
He makes many challenging points,
But I want to read a small portion,
Slide
Trotman writes,
“The curse of today is that we are too busy. I am not talking about being busy earning money to buy food. I am talking about being busy doing Christian things. We have spiritual activity with little productivity.”
Slide
Skipping a little further down, he continues,
“The Gospel spread to the known world during the first century without radio, television or the printing press, because [the writings of the apostles] produced men and women who were reproducing. But today we have a lot of pew-sitters—people think that if they are faithful in church attendance, put good-sized gifts into the offering plate and get people to come, they have done their part…All these other things are incidental to the supreme task of winning a man or woman to Jesus Christ.”
Go and make disciples is not a comfortable command.
It is costly.
But it has been the plan from the beginning.
Back in Matt. 4:19,
When Jesus first called His original disciples,
He said,
Matthew 4:19 (ESV)
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Jesus made it clear that this is what everyone who follows Him will be doing.
The Great Commission is a fitting conclusion to this.
It is the biblical basis for evangelism and missions.
It is a greater reflection of the missional God who has revealed Himself to us in the Bible.
If not for the Bible,
We would, at best, only know that there is a Creator and that there is something wrong with people.
We call this general revelation.
And this is not enough to lead us to a saving knowledge of God.
This is where the Bible steps in,
To teach us that Jesus is the only answer to our need for salvation.
It explains what is wrong with people,
We are sinners by birth and by choice.
Rom. 3:23 says,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This sin separates us from God.
Therefore, the Bible says,
Every human must repent of sin to be spiritually born again.
Human beings are not spiritually neutral.
As sinners,
The Bible explains that all people are condemned and hopeless.
Therefore, as Jesus commissions us to do here,
God went and made disciples,
Teaching us His Word,
Giving us the Bible so that we might know Him,
Then go and make Him known.
This is what missions is all about.
The Bible clearly shows that God has a missional heart.
After the first humans, Adam and Eve,
Fell into sin.
God immediately announced His first gospel in Gen. 3:15,
Promising that One would come and crush the head of the serpent,
Destroying the work of the evil one.
This continued throughout the OT,
With God promising to bless all the families of the earth through Abram,
Multiple Psalms revealing God’s desire for all nations to know and glorify Him,
And prophecies like Isaiah 49:6,
That say it is too small for God to raise up only the tribes of Israel,
Predicting the Messiah to be a light to the Gentiles.
This prophecy is what is quoted in Luke 2,
When Simeon held the baby, Jesus.
We also have stories like Jonah,
Where God sends His prophet to the pagan nation of Nineveh.
This missional heart continues in the person of Jesus,
Who declared that He would draw all people to Himself.
So, all throughout the Bible,
We see God calling people from many nations unto Himself.
Many of whom, ended up being part of Jesus’ own ancestry.
But it is in the Gospel where God reveals His missionary purpose in three ways:
His Great Compassion,
His Great Commandments,
And here with the Great Commission.
Earlier in Matthew 22,
Jesus said the Great commandments are to love God and our neighbor.
Loving God is first,
Because that love for God compels us to obey His commission to see the whole world worship Him.
But we also must love our neighbor,
Because that love for neighbor compels us to see them have eternal life.
And this idea of great compassion is simply imitating the character of Jesus show by the way He lived His life.
The Gospels explicitly say that Jesus had compassion for the crowds.
He saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd.
They were lost.
Therefore, He said, He came to seek and save those who are lost.
Likewise, our compassion should lead us to seek out the lost,
Preach the gospel to them,
Baptize, disciple, and teach them.
This gospel message is God’s power to save all who trust in Him.
Therefore, Christ is calling every member of His body to participate in global missions.
All who call on Jesus are saved.
Slide
Therefore, the Apostle Paul writes in Rom. 10:14-15,
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
The Bible says we all have a role in evangelism and missions.
Every member of Christ’s body is a disciple-maker.
According to Jesus,
To be a member of His body is to make disciples.
Scripture does not give us members who don’t make disciples.
Yet, if you ask members of Christ’s body what it means to make disciples,
You would likely get some sort of ambiguous and jumbled response,
If you got any response at all.
So, we need urgent guidance on this Great Commission.
Therefore, Jesus does not just say make disciples,
And leave it at that.
He surrounds it with three other verbs:
Going, baptizing, and teaching.
First, Jesus specifically commands us to go,
To share His gospel message.
This is fundamental to making disciples.
As we live according to the gospel,
We speak about the gospel.
And the Bible says we do this,
With God’s Spirit living inside of us,
Empowering us to bear witness,
As we bring the gospel to all nations.
The word for nations here is a broad word that includes tribes, families, clans, ethnicities, and peoples.
This brings to a climax the repeated theme of Gentile participation in God’s salvation,
Seen all throughout Matthew.
In the very beginning of Matthew,
There were four Gentile women in Jesus’ genealogy,
And Gentile magi came and worshiped the infant Jesus.
Now, here at the end,
Jesus is commissioning His disciples to make disciples of all nations.
Slide
This goes all the way back to the great promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:3,
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Here, at the inception of the Great Commission,
That promise is ready to be fulfilled through every member of Christ’s body!
Today, it is estimated that there are more than 11,000 people groups spread throughout the world.
Each one shares a language, heritage, and culture.
And Jesus wants us to make disciples among every single one of them.
The estimate is that about half of those people groups still have not been reached with the gospel.
So, the great commission necessitates intentionality in going after these people groups,
To make disciples of all nations.
But, Jesus goes on,
Making disciples does not end once someone responds to the gospel,
And trusts in Him.
He says,
When people do repent,
When they turn from their sin and trust in Him,
He says,
Baptize them!
This is part of being a member of Christ’s body.
We do it,
In part,
Because it symbolizes repentance and purification.
But perhaps more importantly,
It is an identification of our union with Christ,
In His death as we go under the water,
And rising again to life as we come out of the water.
So, baptism marks a person’s entrance into the body of Christ.
Every member of Christ’s body gets baptized.
This is not something churches or pastors made up.
This is a command of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Who has all authority over heaven and earth.
And I know I have spoken on this several times throughout Matthew.
But it is because the number of people who claim to be members of Christ’s body,
But haven’t been baptized yet is shocking.
To put it bluntly,
If you claim to be a member of Christ,
But have not been baptized,
You are living in direct disobedience to Christ.
It is an oxymoron in the NT church.
And don’t misunderstand me,
You don’t have to get baptized to get saved,
The thief on the cross never got baptized.
But if you are saved,
Your public declaration of your trust in Christ necessitates baptism.
And I realize I may come across a bit harsh here,
So, I hope you can forgive me if I do.
But Jesus tells His members to take up our cross,
To be willing to die for Him.
If we aren’t willing to get in a tub and go underwater in front of some people,
Are we really taking up our cross?
Neglecting baptism is both disobedience and a dishonor to Christ.
I push this point,
Because if you are willing to continue to disobey in this area,
Continue to refuse to identify with Christ in baptism,
Then there is serious reason enough to question if you truly do trust in Christ as Lord and Savior.
Therefore, Jesus says,
Baptize disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Notice He says in the Name—singular, not names.
Because the Father, Son, and Spirit are mysteriously one God.
So, it is one baptism in the Name of one God.
You are baptized in this Name because you belong to Him.
You have been brought into the new covenant that expresses the will of this triune God.
And being baptized in His name,
Also demonstrates a clear understanding of the triune God.
Upon baptism,
The NT paints this picture of the members of Christ’s body,
Sharing life together.
It shows us that making disciples is not just a classroom event.
It happens as we walk through life together as a community of faith,
Modeling for one another how to follow Christ,
Showing one another how to pray,
Asking one another for prayer,
Praying with one another,
Showing one another how to study God’s Word,
How to grow in Christ,
How to lead others to Christ.
This is what being a member of Christ’s body is about.
And when Jesus says to teach disciples,
It is not just about information intake.
So, we can win at Bible trivia.
He says to teach them to observe all He has commanded.
It is about reproducing what we learn.
Jesus is saying that His members are not just taught what to believe,
But also how to obey.
So, instruction is a part of it,
But on a bigger picture,
Jesus is commanding you to teach practical holiness.
Every member of Christ’s body should be saturated with God’s Word so much,
That Scripture naturally overflows out of us in our conversations with others.
YOU Members Depend on Christ’s Presence (20)(Response):
YOU Members Depend on Christ’s Presence (20)(Response):
In light of the commission Christ has given us,
May we make disciples both here in Afton,
And among all peoples.
Friends, we live in a world of sin, rebellion, suffering, and pain.
There are hundreds of millions of people living in poverty,
Starving, and dying from preventable diseases.
But the spiritual condition is even worse.
Billions of people are entrenched in false religions,
Many never even hearing the gospel.
And the Bible says all humankind is on a road that is bound for eternal separation from God.
But as members of Christ’s body,
We know Jesus Christ is Lord of all!
We know He died on the cross for our sins,
And for their sins!
We know that He rose from the grave,
Conquering death!
His Spirit has opened our hearts to know this and trust this!
He has saved us to know God and enjoy Him forever!
Brothers and sisters,
To be honest,
I long for the day when I will get to be fully with Him,
In His presence.
But until that day comes,
While we are still here,
He has given us a great commission to reach the world with His gospel.
And He has also given us His Spirit for this purpose.
This is how Jesus ends the Great Commission,
With the reality that Members Depend on Christ’s presence.
Slide
Jesus began the great commission with a reference to His authority.
And as you obey His commission,
He assures you with the promise of His presence,
A presence you can depend on.
You and I need to be reminded this,
If we are going to fulfill our God-given mission.
The final words of Matthew are unspeakably comforting and encouraging.
It reminds us of what the beginning of Matthew said about Jesus,
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
When Jesus was born,
He brought the presence of God to you and I.
So, it is only fitting,
That Matthew’s Gospel would end with the reminder of His presence,
As He prepared to return to heaven.
So, be encouraged,
Jesus reassures you that He is still with you.
In fact, He is specifically with you,
In the commission He has called you to.
He promises to be with you to the end of the age,
To the consummation of the world as we know it.
So, brothers and sisters, take heart.
This mission is not based on who you are or what you can do.
It is based on Christ’s presence.
The temptation is to look around at all the worldly resources we have to determine our potential.
But in all reality,
It does not matter how gifted the members of the church are,
Or how blessed we are financially.
Because we can do nothing apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
When the Spirit is at work among a body,
That church can reach the nations for God’s glory.
This mission is not based on what we can do,
It is based on Who Jesus is,
What He has done,
And what He is still doing in and through our lives.
Eph. 3:20 says Christ is...
Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)
able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
So, put aside your small dreams and worldly ambitions,
And instead see where Christ leads your life.
Together, we can experience the power of His presence.
We all have this desire to be a part of something beyond us,
Something almost supernatural.
That means we can’t be preoccupied with the kind of programs that we manage on our own.
Instead, let us be desperate for Jesus’ power in us!
Slide
Obedience to the Great Commission is not easy,
In fact, the Bible says it is costly.
But it is worth it!
Because the day is coming when Jesus will return,
And the reward of that will be infinitely greater than any cost we paid in this world.
So, let us hope in the promise of His return.
Let us hope for the day when we will be with Jesus face to face.
Let us live with a longing for that day,
That compels us to Go and Make Disciples to bring about that day!
Because once every tribe, tongue, and people know,
Then the day will come.
Pray.