Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

How successful will the Great Commission be?

Will it be fulfilled?

That is really the defining question of Eschatology.

We are in the middle of looking at the Hope of Postmillennialism.

And the defining characteristic that marks Postmillennialism off from every other eschatology is that we believe the Great Commission will be so successful that the gospel will conquer the world.

That the mission of the church will lead to worldwide conversion and the worship of God among all the nations.

In short the Great Commission will be fulfilled.

Well what does that mean?

And more importantly, what does God’s Word say about the Mission of the church and the Great Commission’s impact on the world?

Let’s start with just looking at the Great Commission itself.

What has Christ called us to do.

And that’s point number 1...

I.

The Great Commission is a Command to Make Disciples

Matthew 28:18-20 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Make Disciples

At the very outset, I want to take the time to clearly define what exactly Jesus commanded the church to do in the Great Commission because doing so will help us to know what our marching orders actually are as we take the gospel to the world.

How can we do what Jesus commanded us to do if we don’t know what He actually commanded?

So what is it?

what is the Great Commission all about?

If you read this passage carefully, you will notice there is one primary command.

One thing Jesus commands us to do.

Make Disciples.

And then, that one command, is then defined, explained, and expanded by three key words: Go, Baptizing, and Teaching.

We are commanded to make disciples and the way we make disciples is by going, baptizing, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded.

Here’s why that is so significant.

Making disciples actually means something

You see, Jesus’ primary command isn’t just to Go.

We must go.

We can’t make disciples if we don’t go.

But the purpose of going is not to be obedient to go.

Its to be obedient to make disciples.

Now you might say, “Well of course!

That’s what Jesus says.”

But here’s the struggle.

Through no fault of your own, I think you’ve been taught to soften Jesus’ command.

We hear make disciples, and we know we don’t have the power to save anyone so we soften this command to basically just mean to bear witness or preach.

But making disciples is so much more than just bearing witness or preaching.

If that is what Jesus wanted to say, there are ways to do it.

He could’ve said Go therefore and preach the gospel!

Go therefore and bear witness to the gospel!

That is what many Christians believe the primary mission of the church is today.

But that’s not what He said.

He took it one step further.

He said make disciples.

Turn them into followers of Christ.

That’s what a disciple is.

According to Jesus a disciple is someone who has denied themself, taken up their cross, and follows Christ with all of their life.

Someone who has turned from sin to follow and obey Jesus.

Now you might say, But in Acts 1:8, Jesus said You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

See witnesses!

Bit Jesus was saying witnesses is what we are.

Making disciples is still what we do.

That’s the force of that Greek verb in the Great Commission.

There is one other time where that word make disciples is used this way in the New Testament.

Its in Acts 14:21.

Acts 14:21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.

From this verse, who would argue that make disciples doesn’t actually mean turning people into followers of Christ.

That is what we are commanded to do.

This particular Greek word Jesus uses for “make disciples” carries with it both the idea of preaching the gospel and someone responding to the gospel with repentance.

Of actually hearing the gospel and turning to Christ.

This is why someone who has been discipled is Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and taught to follow Jesus with all their life.

This is a subtle shift that makes all the difference in the world for the mission of the church.

Are we commanded to just bear witness to the gospel and to preach the gospel to all the nations?

Or are we commanded make disciples to turn them into followers of Christ?

What are our marching orders?

I think its obvious.

Jesus commands us to “make disciples.”

And He even uses three words to define what that means.

We go.

We baptize meaning we preach the gospel and they turn to Christ and repent of their sin.

And then we teach.

We teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded and to follow Christ with all of their life.

The nations are not discipled until we have gone, they are baptized, and taught to follow Christ.

That’s the mission.

Christ expects something more than just bearing witness or faithfully preaching the gospel.

He expects to receive the nations as inheritance.

Did he not say When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself (John 12:32).

This leads us to another question.

Who are we supposed to make disciples?

Jesus tells us: All nations.

All Nations

Well what does that mean?

Who is Jesus commanding us to turn into followers of Christ?

The word nations is broader than just individuals within nations.

I think sometimes when we hear the Great Commission we assume Jesus is saying make disciples out of all nations.

As in you go into a country, plant a church, and bam that nation’s discipled.

But Jesus doesn’t say make disciples out of all nations.

Literally in Greek He says Disciple all the nations.

Turn all the nations into followers of Christ.

So what is a nation?

Matthew actually uses this exact phrase, all the nations, 3 other times in his gospel.

And one of them is when Jesus talks about the Final Judgment in Matthew 25:32.

That says Matthew 25:32 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.

So according to Matthew’s definition, all the nations is another way of saying the whole wide world.

All people everywhere.

That’s Jesus’ command.