THE CHURCH'S MISSION (Matthew 28:16-20)
INTRODUCTION:
When we talk about the church’s mission, I am sure that many people, even people in the church, do not know or are unaware of the church’s central mission. If we were to survey people on the church’s primary purpose I am sure that we would get a number of different answers. Some would say that fellowship is the primary purpose, others might say sound biblical teaching, and still others would say praise of God is our primary purpose or mission. All of these answers are completely biblical, and they should characterize every Bible believing church. But they do not separately or combined together represent the central purpose or mission of the church in the world. The supreme purpose and motive of every individual believer and every body of believers is to glorify God.
The mission that flows out of our loving fellowship, our spiritual growth, and our praise is that we as believers are being God’s faithful and obedient instruments in His divine plan to redeem the world. God has been drawing sinners back to Himself, He is drawing them now and will continue to draw sinners to Himself and to restore the world that sin has corrupted; and this is all for the purpose of bringing glory to Himself. When sinners are redeemed, God is glorified, because their salvation cost Him the death of His own Son, the immeasurable price that His infinite grace was willing to pay. The supreme way in which God chose to glorify Himself was through the salvation of sinners, and it is through participation in His plan of redemption that believers themselves most glorify God. Fellowship, teaching, and praise are not the mission of the church but are instead the preparation of the church to fulfill its mission of winning sinners to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the final message of the Lord Jesus as reported by Matthew, Jesus clearly gives or implies five essentials that are necessary for His followers to fulfill the church’s mission on earth. Let’s pray and then look at our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Matthew 28:16-20, a passage with which you may already be familiar. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Matthew 28:16-20,
“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ ” (Matthew 28:16–20, NASB95)[1]
BE AVAILABLE (Matthew 28:16)
The first three essentials that are needed to carry out the mission of the church are attitudes. The first one, which is implied, is to be available. This is implied in the fact that the disciples were where the Lord had told them to be.
It has been stated that as far as a believer’s service to God is concerned, the greatest ability is availability. It does not matter if you possess all the gifts and talents to serve God, all that is useless to God if you are not available to be used. Faithful discipleship does not begin with knowing where or when you will serve the Lord or in what way you will serve Him. Faithful discipleship always begins with simply being available to be used by God, with no ideas of how God can use you, allowing Him to guide you.
The eleven disciples had not received the blessing of seeing the resurrected Jesus in the garden because, unlike the faithful women, they were not there. Now the eleven were where Jesus had told them that He would meet them, and because they were here they received His Great Commission and His great promise.
Jesus had told the disciples before His death and resurrection that He would meet them in Galilee after He had risen from the dead. This was the same message the angel told the women on that Sunday morning, to tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. Jesus had called this gathering of His followers for the purpose of commissioning them to reach the world, and now they were gathered. We are not told which mountain, but the Lord at an earlier time designated a time and a place that they were to gather to meet Him. This meeting took place sometime in the 40 days that He was appearing to them.
We are not told who was present when Jesus gave the Great Commission, other than the eleven, but it seems that this was the time Paul mentions in 1st Corinthians 15:6 when Jesus appeared to more than 500 at one time. The fact that Matthew only mentions the eleven does not limit the gathering to only those men. It would be reasonable that the Lord assembled this large group of His followers at this time, and He chose a place in Galilee because that is where the majority of His followers were from. Because the Great Commission is for all of His church, Jesus would have wanted to deliver it to the largest possible group of His faithful followers.
Gathered on a mountain somewhere in Galilee were more than 500 of Jesus’ followers, these were common people, not the most intelligent, or powerful, or influential, just ordinary people, but they were where the Lord wanted them to be, and their obedience in being there was the evidence that they were willing to be used in the Lord’s service. Because they were there, they met with the risen Lord Jesus. Because they were there, they received the Great Commission. Because they were there, they received the Lord’s promise of His continual presence and power as they ministered in His name. It all started because they were available, what about you?
AN ATTITUDE OF WORSHIP (Matthew 28:17-18a)
The second essential attitude implied here that is needed for the effective fulfillment of the church’s mission is an attitude of worship. When God is not sincerely or truly worshiped, He cannot be truly served. Our Scripture passage tells us that as soon as the people saw Jesus, they worshiped Him. This word translated “worship” is a word that means to kneel or prostrate oneself in front of someone to show adoration, reverence, and devotion. Here was the risen Savior and Lord and any sorrow these followers had turned into unbelievable joy.
These followers gathered here were not just showing respect and honor to a human dignitary or a mere earthly ruler but were worshiping God’s own risen Son, the Lord of heaven and earth. Even though we have no recorded words of what might have been spoken by these worshipers, certainly their hearts were bursting with praise of the risen Savior in whom they had placed all their hope.
Matthew then writes, “but some were doubtful.” (Matthew 28:17b, NASB95)[2] This phrase that Matthew inserts here is one of countless small and indirect testimonies to the integrity of Scripture. Matthew writes with complete honesty about the event as it actually happened, without attempting to make it more dramatic or more convincing then it was. As Matthew portrayed Jesus in His divine perfection, he also portrayed Jesus’ followers, including himself, in their human imperfection. Matthew’s honesty testifies both to His own honesty, and to the integrity of God’s Word.
The identity of those who were doubting is not given. I do not believe that it was any of the eleven even though they are the only ones mentioned in this passage. But with the high probability that this was when Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at one time it would seem that some of them doubted. The eleven had already seen Him and interacted with Him since His resurrection, they knew that He was the risen Lord Jesus.
Matthew does not tell us what it was that these doubters doubted. Did they doubt the resurrection, did they wonder if this truly was the physically risen Christ or some form of imposter. Remember that out of the large group only the eleven and some of the women had seen Him in His risen form. Perhaps some were more like Thomas and were reluctant to believe such an amazing truth without some firm evidence.
To remove doubt Jesus graciously came up and spoke to them. As the Lord came nearer and spoke his familiar voice must have sounded in their ears and their doubt melted away because we do not read of it again. As they worshiped the Lord Jesus, their complete focus was on Him. That is the essence of true worship, it is single-minded, unhindered, and unqualified concentration on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We must be available and have an attitude of worship as we seek to serve the Savior.
AN ATTITUDE OF SUBMISSION (Matthew 28:18b)
The third essential needed for fulfilling the church’s mission of reaching others for Christ is another implied attitude, it is an attitude of submission. The first thing Jesus declares when speaking to the people is His sovereign lordship. Jesus speaks but in the context it requires a believer’s response to His rule.
Before giving His followers their marching orders, Jesus establishes His sovereign authority to give them the commission and command it. It is because of His sovereign power that His followers are to have an attitude of complete, humble submission to His will.
Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:17b, NASB95)[3] The word translated authority is a Greek word that refers to the freedom and right to speak and act as one pleases. When this word is used in relation to God, it means that freedom and right are absolute and unlimited. Notice that Jesus did not just say authority, but all authority in heaven and on earth, making clear that He is the sovereign Lord over all, a sovereign authority given to Jesus by His heavenly Father.
During Jesus’ lifetime and ministry on the earth He often demonstrated His authority. Going through Mark we witnessed Jesus’ authority over disease, sickness, and disabilities, over demons, over sin, and over death. Jesus even delegated this authority to His disciples so that they too could cast out demons and heal the sick. Jesus has the authority to bring all mankind before the judgment seat of God and condemn them to eternal death or grant them eternal life. He had authority to lay down His own life and take it up again. He has been given the authority to rule heaven and earth and the authority to condemn Satan and his demons to eternal torment in the lake of fire. Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord of all.
Jesus received His sovereign authority from His Father, who has given all judgment to the Son and made Him both Lord and Christ. God the Father, “…highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11, NASB95)[4]
Jesus declared His absolute authority over all things before giving His commission to His followers. Jesus did this so that when He gave the command His followers would not despair over what would seem hopelessly impossible for them to fulfill, and in despair might have ignored it. But because they had the Lord’s sovereign command as well as His resources to guide and empower them, those five hundred normal, everyday, yet powerless disciples would not be totally overwhelmed by the huge task of making disciples for the Lord from every nation on earth.
Submission to the absolute sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an option for a true believer, rather it is your supreme obligation. Your submission to the Lord is not negotiable or adjustable to your own desires or plans. This submission to the Lord is an attitude that says with absolute truthfulness and sincerity, “Whatever the Lord commands me to do, I will do.”
BE OBEDIENT (Matthew 28:19-20a)
The fourth essential that must be carried out to fulfill the church’s mission is obedience to the Lord’s command. This obedience is only made possible when the believer possesses the attitudes of availability, worship, and submission. Having declared His absolute sovereign authority, Jesus in that authority commanded, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19a, NASB95)[5] When Jesus said “therefore” He was making the transition from what He had just spoken, He was saying, Because I am the sovereign Lord of the universe, I have both the authority to command you to by My witnesses and the power to enable you to obey and fulfill that command.
“Make disciples” is the main verb and the central command of verses 19-20. The meaning of this command refers to believing and learning. Jesus is not telling us to make believers or to make learners, if He was He could have used other words. This word carries a combination of both believing and learning and in the context speaks of those who place their trust in Jesus Christ and follow Him in lives of continual learning and obedience. John 8:31 says, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.’ ” (John 8:31, NASB95)[6]
The Great Commission is a command to bring sinners in this world to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the term the Lord uses in His commission is making disciples. The person who is truly saved is a disciple, someone who has accepted and submitted himself to Jesus Christ. This person is filled with the Holy Spirit and given a new nature that desires to obey and worship the Lord who has saved him. Even when he is disobedient because he still possesses a sin nature, he will know that he is not living in accord with his new nature, which gives him the desire to honor and please the Lord. He will grow to love righteousness and hate sin, including his own.
Jesus’ command then is for those who are His disciples to become His instruments for making new disciples of all nations. Jesus’ own earthly ministry was to make disciples for Himself, and that is now the ministry of His people. He commands that each of us become fishers of men. This is the Lord’s mission for the church.
Within this Great Commission Jesus gave three requirements for making disciples. He said we are to be going, baptizing, and teaching. The first requirement makes it clear that the church is not to wait for the world to come to them, but that it is to go to the world. The grammar of the Greek is best translated as “having gone,” which seems to suggest that this requirement is not so much a command as it is an assumption. The second requirement for making disciples is to be “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19, NASB95)[7] To baptize literally means to immerse in water. Remember John the Baptist had used baptism as a symbol of repentance of sin and turning to God. As instituted by Jesus’ baptism became an outward act of identification with Jesus Christ through faith, a visible, public testimony that from this point forward the one being baptized belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The initial act of obedience to Christ after salvation is to submit to baptism as a testimony to union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism by immersion symbolizes burial and resurrection. It is important to remember that the act of baptism has absolutely no saving or sacramental benefit or power, it is commanded by Christ of His followers. The person who is unwilling to be baptized is at best a disobedient believer, but if this person persists in his unwillingness there is reason to doubt his salvation. If he is unwilling to carry out this simple act of obedience in the presence of fellow believers, he will hardly be willing to stand for Christ before the unbelieving world. Baptism has no part in the work of salvation, but it is a God-ordained and God-commanded outward testimony of salvation. In other words, a person is saved by God’s grace alone working through his faith as a gift of God. But by God’s own command, the act of baptism is His divinely designated sign of a believer’s identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is a God commanded act of faith and obedience.
The third requirement for making disciples of all nations is “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:20a, NASB95)[8] The church’s mission is not simply to see people saved, but to teach them. When you make disciples, that new disciple is called to a life of obedience to the Lord and in order to obey he will need to be taught what the Lord requires. Because of this, studying, understanding, and obeying all that Jesus commanded us is the lifelong task of every true disciple. Now I understand that not every Christian is a gifted teacher, but every faithful Christian is committed to promoting the teaching of God’s Word both to make and edify disciples of Christ.
EMPOWERED BY JESUS (Matthew 28:20b)
As crucial as the first four essentials are for us to effectively fulfill the church’s mission, they would be useless without the last which is the power of Jesus Christ’s continuing presence with us. Neither the attitudes of availability, worship, submission, nor faithful obedience to God’s Word would be possible apart from Christ’s own presence and power working in and through us. Jesus finished the Great Commission with a promise, He said, “…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, NASB95)[9] This final promise by Jesus is a promise to be with us and to empower us to carrying out His command. Jesus was saying, in effect, “Now pay special attention to what I am about to say, because it is the most important of all, (that is the long version of and lo), I Myself, your divine, resurrected, living, eternal Lord am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
One helpful way to keep one’s spiritual life and work in the right perspective as we seek to make disciples is to pray. We want to continually rely on the Lord’s power and not our own when we are trying to be a witness for Him, which means we need to take time to pray. You might pray, Lord, You love this person more than I do and only You can reach into his life and save him, so help me to witness only as You lead and empower me. Amen.
Jesus says that He is with us always, which simply means “all the days.” For the individual disciple that means all the days of his life. But in its fullest meaning for the church Jesus promises to be with us to the end of the age, that is, until the Lord returns bodily to judge the world and rule His earthly kingdom. That is the end of the age, but until that time, during this present age, He will always be with those who belong to Him, leading them and empowering them to fulfill the Great Commission.
CONCLUSION:
Jesus outlined the church’s mission in this passage this morning. We are to continue what those more than five hundred started more than two thousand years ago. We are to go to this world of ours and make disciples because this is what Jesus in His absolute, sovereign authority commanded us to do. We must obey; how do we start? I left five blanks on the bottom of your bulletin insert, I challenge you to write down the names of five unbelievers that you know, and pray for their salvation every day, and pray that God will give you opportunities to be a witness to them as Christ’s own power works in and through you. You pray daily for these five people until they are saved. Maybe they are friends, maybe they are family, maybe they are neighbors, pray for their salvation and pray that God would use you in their lives as a witness. This is making yourself available for God to use, do so in an attitude of worship and submission, and then be obedient when God gives you opportunity to make disciples and know that He is with you always.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.