We are beginning a new series today entitled, “The Family” and my aim with this series is for us to hear from God’s Word on what it means to be the church. I have spoken often in my preaching about the shortcomings of the church in the west as well as the unbiblical influence of a westernized, consumer-driven society. 

The reality is, we are so prone to dressing up our consumeristic desires and our preferences with Christian language. I have to admit that when I first started planting this church – even though I would say that I wanted to plant a church where disciples were made – deep down inside, I wanted to see God plant a church family that I could be part of that would serve my wants and my needs and would be shaped by my preferences. 

I wanted friends, I wanted my wife to have a great group of women that would invest in her wellbeing, I wanted my children to have other kids to grow alongside of, and I wanted to have a group of men who were running the same race as I am. Over the years, the Lord has sanctified those desires and preferences within me even though they still sometimes rear their ugly heads in moments of weakness. 

And I want you to hear me clearly, those desires and preferences are not necessarily sinful – they are just not the primary biblical reasons for being part of the local church. If those were primary things to look for in a local church, God would have listed them somewhere in the Bible, but he did not do that.

So, as we study God’s Word over the next few weeks, my hope is that God will correct, and clarify, and unite us around a biblical vision and mission that God has for us as a young church. I want us to think deeply about what it means to be a church family, according to God’s word, and then I want us to move forward with a crystal-clear vision of who we are and what God has called us to do in our city and beyond.

With that in mind, we are beginning this series by studying what has historically been called “The Great Commission” in Matthew 28:16 – 20. This passage – that we just read – comes at the very end of Matthew’s gospel, immediately following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The disciples have literally been hiding in sheer terror for a couple of days after witnessing Jesus’ public execution; all their hopes and dreams have been crushed by the horror of Jesus’ death. Can you imagine how traumatized the disciples were, to have witnessed that horrifying public execution of their friend, and teacher, and pastor? Look at the text with me…

MATTHEW 28:16 – 20

16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus directed them. 17And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

The reality is that Matthew is not the only one to record what we call “The Great Commission”. The other gospel writers – men who wrote their versions of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the throne of heaven – they wrote their own versions of The Great Commission too. Let me read those for you just so we all have a full picture of what Jesus said immediately following his resurrection, and then we will come back to focus primarily on Matthew’s version.

MARK 16:15 – 18

15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So, Mark’s version adds a few layers to Matthew’s version. Mark does highlight the command to go and make disciples through the proclamation of the gospel just as Matthew does. But Mark adds some layers about facing dangers of various kinds and performing miracles. And in case you are thinking it… NO, we will not be handling snakes and drinking poisonous Kool-Aid to prove that we are disciples! Luke also weighs in on Jesus’ final words.

LUKE 24:45 – 49

45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power on high.”

Again, here we see Luke (similar to the other gospel writers) adding some more layers to Jesus’ final words to his disciples after his resurrection. The essence is the same as Matthew and Mark: Disciples of Jesus are commanded to spread the gospel of Christ’s work at the cross, and the empty tomb for the forgiveness of sins.  But Luke adds the layer of waiting on the Holy Spirit to come and empower them as witnesses for this work. This is something Luke expands in his second book, which is commonly called: The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Disciples. Acts 1:8 is the extension of what Luke says here. Look at that passage with me briefly.

ACTS 1:8

8…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Luke’s addition here, explains that the work of proclaiming the gospel so that disciples are made, begins with our inner circle of friends and family (Jerusalem), expands out like ripples of water in the ocean to people throughout our geographic area (Judea), even to those people we do not like or normally enjoy spending time with (Samaria), and then all the way to the ends of the earth. 

We are called – everyone who claims to follow Jesus – to be about the business of proclaiming the gospel and making disciples to the ends of the earth as the Spirit enables us to be witnesses for our crucified, risen, and returning Savior. And we are not done yet! John weighs in with his own version to add more layers of clarity to this Great Commission!

JOHN 20:21 – 23

21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Once again, John adds a little more detail to The Great Commission as he focuses on the importance of the Holy Spirit – who is the breath of God, which is signified in Jesus breathing on his disciples – so that, as sent ones, or as disciples who are being sent with a message by Jesus, they can proclaim the gospel of God’s forgiveness of sin offered in the cross of Christ.

BACK TO MATTHEW…

With all of that in mind, we head back now to Matthew’s version of The Great Commission, where he tells us that the women who visited Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning in verses 1 – 10, they find the tomb empty, and they speak with the resurrected Jesus, and they pass along his instructions to the rest of the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee (v.10). So now, according to Matthew, the disciples are headed to Galilee to meet the resurrected Christ for the very first time. 

If I was in their shoes, I might have been a little skeptical and I certainly might be wondering if Jesus is truly alive again, then what could he possibly want to say to me? Maybe he wants to counsel me and comfort me after the traumatic things I just witnessed when he died. Maybe he wants to set up a nice little comfortable space for us to gather and sing Koombiyah together!!!

Or maybe he wants to rebuke me for abandoning him in his final moments because of my fear. This is not what Jesus does though! Let us take a look at what happens when the disciples encounter the resurrected Jesus in Galilee. Let us read Matthew’s version once again just so we are familiar with what he says.

16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus directed them. 17And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

When I read this passage, I get the sense that Jesus has a specific mission in mind for his people, to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (v. 19). What does Jesus mean when he commissions his followers to go and make more followers? 

He does not instruct his disciples to build buildings (although buildings are not bad), he does not instruct them to create programs to reach specific age groups (although those ministries are not bad at all), and he does not instruct them to create a weekly gathering that is designed to make people feel good about themselves (although biblical encouragement is not bad at all either).

Jesus’ simple instruction is to “Go and make disciples of all nations” which simply means to actively make followers of Jesus across the entire world. That seems like a monumental task to me. That mission seems like something so much bigger than working to get a Sunday gathering experience designed that makes everyone feel welcomed and invited and served well. 

That mission seems so much bigger to me than worrying about whether or not my kids have a great youth ministry or whether or not I have a good crowd of friends to see on Sundays or whether or not I like the song selection for worship or whether or not the preacher stays within his time limits; even if those things are important, they are merely preferences.

Making disciples of all the nations across the globe is not a preference, it is a command. It is a command that seems like something so monumental, so impossible to fully achieve without the miraculous help of God, that it seems worth investing my entire life into. 

But here is the reality, anything worth investing my entire life into, will inevitably come with some significant hardship; there will be barriers to overcome and hurdles to cross over anytime you and I begin to pursue something that could change the entire world. 

What do you think some of the barriers are for you for obeying this command to be a disciple-maker? What hinders you from selling out your life to become a full-fledged disciple maker? What would it look like for you to take some steps forward into becoming a more fully invested disciple-maker? Do you struggle with figuring out what it even looks like to make disciples?

Maybe you doubt that God could use you tremendously to extend his kingdom across the world. Maybe you doubt that you have what it takes to share the gospel with your friends. I want you to notice with me, that as Jesus is laying out his grand mission and vision for the early church, there is a presence of both worshipers and doubters.

#1: WORSHIPERS AND DOUBTERS (VV. 16 – 17)

In verses 16 – 17, Matthew tells us that “the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.” The reality is this, wherever and whenever God has chosen to extend his kingdom, to plant a church, or to establish a new ministry that wages war against the kingdom of hell, there has always been and probably always will be a level of doubt that we will encounter.

In this context, those who struggled with doubt were probably struggling to believe that Jesus was really alive even though he had promised them that he would return from the grave. Most of us have trust issues; we have experienced way too many failed promises from unfaithful people. 

Have you ever stopped to think about how your tendency to doubt God’s Word is probably the foundation for your disobedience? I know that all my obedience issues are rooted in a failure to trust in God’s Word and when I fail to fully trust God, I ultimately fail to submit to and to walk in his authority. Notice with me what Jesus says in verse 18 regarding his authority.

#2: ALL AUTHORITY (V. 18)

In verse 18, the very first words out of Jesus’ mouth – amidst the worshipers and the doubters who were present – are words concerning his authority when he says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This is a very bold statement for anyone to make. But in this case, Jesus has just beaten the cross and the grave, so he has the credentials to claim full authority over all things.

In this instance, we know that he is about to tell them to go make more disciples – a command that is for every believer to obey – so he begins by letting them know that he is the Sherrif who is about to deputize them for a special work. 

Before we get to the specifics of that command, to make disciples, we need to wrestle with the fact that Jesus has the authority to not only give this command, but to also share that authority with us – just like a Sherrif who deputizes or shares his authority with his deputies. When we struggle with Jesus’ command to make disciples, we are struggling to not only submit to his authority but we are also struggling to see ourselves as having his authority to do the work.

Jesus does not send us out to make disciples in our own strength with our own resources; he sends us out with the limitless resource of his own authority. God chooses to work in and through weak and broken people just like you and I to bring glory to himself as we share the gospel with others and advance the kingdom of God by making disciples. This leads us to the core verses of our text where Jesus says “Go… make Disciples”.

#3: GO MAKE DISCIPLES (VV. 19 – 20)

Have you ever wondered what it means to make disciples? Ever wondered what your role in this mission is? Jesus makes it really simple and really clear when he says in verses 19 – 20 that we are to, “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.” Jesus’ commission to us is not rocket science.

You do not need the best building, or the best programs, or the best staff members, or the best incentives and rewards systems for faithful members to make disciples. Jesus says that we should simply go, make disciples, baptize new believers, and continue teaching them to obey the Bible. Simple as that! Go, make, baptize, and teach obedience!

This commission is not just for staff members of a local church; it is for every believer. Every believer is called to go, called to make, called to baptize, and called to teach obedience. You do not need a degree to go build relationships with the lost. You do not need a degree to challenge people to believe in Jesus. You do not need a degree to baptize people. You do not need a degree to read the Bible with other people and challenge them to be obedient to God’s Word.

But you do need to be a believer. You do need to be baptized. And you do need to be reading your Bible. You do need to be walking in obedience to God’s Word. You can only give what you have, and you probably will not have what you need if you only attend a few church gatherings for the purpose of consuming a product. 

Being part of the church means that you have become part of a disciple making community in which you are being trained and equipped to be a disciple maker – not just a better spouse, not just a better parent, and not just a better friend. Being part of a disciple making church family means that you are actively engaged in building relationships with the lost, calling them to believe in Jesus, helping them to become part of the local church through baptism, and then continuing that relationship with other disciples as you study the Bible with them. 

Now, if you still feel a little inadequate for this calling or if you still doubt that God may want to or can use you for this giant mission, Jesus leaves us with a final promise to fuel our activity as we move forward.

#4: I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS (V. 20)

In verse 20, Jesus says, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is a great promise to trust in! Making disciples may be simple in terms of the “how to” that we just talked about. But making disciples is no joke and it is hard work. When you engage in the work of making disciples, people will laugh at you, slander you, poke fun at you, lie about you, ignore you, and generally make life hard for you.

Why would we expect anything less? When Jesus explains earlier in this book that to be a disciple requires that we carry our crosses as we actively fight against Satan, Sin, and Death, we should catch a vision for the difficult work of making other disciples who do the same work. 

When Jesus calls his disciples to come follow him so that they can become fishers of men, we should understand that following Jesus is not primarily about our preferences, wants, or perceived needs.

We also have to remember that when we actively commit to becoming disciples who make disciples, we are declaring war against the Kingdom of Satan, Sin, and Death and that kingdom – the kingdom of hell – does not loosen its grip on its subjects without a bloody fight.

The reward or the incentive for becoming disciples who make other disciples is seeing someone move from the kingdom of hell into the kingdom of heaven. Despite all the hardship of making disciples, there are beautiful moments when all of heaven erupts into praises of our crucified, risen, and returning King, and those moments are the moments when hell loses another one!

But even if you merely live for that reward alone, you will most likely tap out when the going gets rough – because that reward will never sustain you like the presence of Jesus will. When Jesus promises to be with us until the very end in our disciple making efforts, he is literally calling us to put his promise to the test by seeking his presence as we make disciples. 

All the theology training in the world, and all the evangelism training in the library, and all the leadership training we can consume, will never compare to the sustaining presence of Christ himself. His promise is meant to make us seek his presence as we seek to make disciples. 

When Jesus promised earlier in Matthew 16:18, to build his church on the Rock, and that the gates of hell would not prevail against the evangelistic force of the church, he was talking about his very own crucified, resurrected, and returning presence as that very Rock of Ages. 

When a church seeks the presence of Jesus, it literally begs the Holy Spirit to be with them as they make disciples. And in this pursuit of Christ’s presence, Jesus becomes the central figure – the cornerstone of that church. This is basically what happens in the entire book of Acts as the Holy Spirit empowers these once weak and fear-filled disciples to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. More on that next week!

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, we have discussed how our own struggle with doubting Jesus can affect our obedience in making disciples. We talked a little bit about how Jesus authorizes us to make disciples in his own authority. We also looked at the simple strategy for making disciples with Jesus’ instructions to: Go, Make, Baptize, and Teach obedience. We wrapped up by thinking about how important the promise of Christ’s presence is for our mission of making disciples and how we need to pursue more and more of the presence of Jesus through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

My concern is that you still may not know what your next step is; what God may be calling you to do to engage in this mission to make disciples to the ends of the earth. You might need to deal with some doubts. You might need to recognize the authority you have in Christ. You might need to identify some lost people to Go, Make, Baptize, and Teach obedience to. You may need to seek the presence of Jesus more as you head out to make disciples. 

You may need to commit to sacrificial investment in this local church by stepping up your game with being part of a Bible Study, or serving in one of our various ministries, or giving financially. You may need to commit to some in depth study of how to share your faith with others.

Those things may be true, and you should act in obedience to whatever the Holy Spirit is highlighting for you. But I also want to leave you with one final thing to consider as you ask the Spirit to guide you in moving forward. I want you to consider Christ above all else. 

Jesus did not seek comfort when he came to this earth, and neither should we. Jesus did not seek a crowd to fit in with, and neither should we. Jesus did not seek a church to serve his needs, and neither should we. Jesus did not gather a group of people around him to fulfill his desire for a better group of friends, and neither should we.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and so should we. Jesus gave himself in relationship to a bunch of broken outcasts, and misfits, and sinners so that he could call them to repentance and salvation by faith, and so should we. Jesus intentionally called those broken outcasts and misfits to become fishers of other people – disciple-makers who would rock then world, and so should we. The Jesus that saved you and called you out of your religious hypocrisy or called you out of your filthy back slidden lifestyle, that Jesus, gave his life to the mission of making disciples who would make more disciples. 

If you and I have been saved by this Jesus, then you do not need a slick sales pitch or a guilt trip to ignite your hearts on fire for becoming a disciple making church. If you have encountered our suffering Savior and King, then that is all the motivation you need to overcome your doubts, to walk in the authority of Christ, to Go, to Make, to Baptize, to Teach obedience, to seek the presence of our crucified, risen, and returning Savior, and to step up your game of involvement in the disciple-making ministries of the local church.

If you struggle with making the shift away from seeing the church as being here to serve you… to seeing the church as your opportunity to serve Christ by making disciples, then all you have to do is catch the vision for the Savior whose only mission was to seek and to save you.

When your vision of Christ, the disciple-making Savior and King, enlarges, you will no longer seek to use the church for your own agenda or preferences, you will be so overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude and purpose in your calling to make disciples of all nations to the ends of the earth; you will declare war against the kingdom of hell and you will advance the kingdom of heaven with all the energy that the Holy Spirit gives you.2Seek a greater vision of Christ and you will become part of building a disciple making church! – Amen!!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Douglas, Sean, O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2013), 905 – 919. (This commentary was helpful for my thinking as I wrote this sermon. I wholeheartedly commend it to you).