Date:   02/19/06

Text:   Matthew 28:16—20, Acts 1:8

Title:   A People of Witness

Theme: The Great Commission is to be an integral part of our life style

Introduction:

  This is the mission of HCC. It makes a statement of who we are and what we do. During the last few Sundays, we have looked at Worship and Word. This morning we want to focus on Outreach.

  “ 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.” These are the few recorded words Jesus spoke to his disciples during the 40 days after his resurrection. It is known as the Great Commission. These words became the driving force of taking countless people going over the mountains, crossing the oceans to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. This great commission brought people like David Livingston, William Carey, Morrison and Husdon Taylor from England to Africa, India and china in the 1800's. This leads to Taylor 's famous words, “if I have 1.000 lives, I'd give them all for China . If I have 1000, I will not leave one for myself.” The same commission took 5 young Americans and their families to S.America in 1955 and were killed at the first contact with the native Indians.

  And you know what? Most of us, if not all, are here because of this Great Commission. This morning I want to make several observations about this Great Commission and see how it was applied to the early Christians and what it means to us in the 21 st century.

I.   The Great Commission begins with worshipping the Lord of all.

  To have a full understanding of this commission, it is important to know what took place earlier. In vs.17, 18, “ 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.” As the disciples arrived at the mountain in Galilee , they saw Jesus in a distance. Some doubted, meaning not sure who he was. Then he came near and spoke to them. When they saw him, they worshipped him. Why? They knew he was Christ, the Messiah, the one from God, he was God. He had also risen from the dead. Moreover, Jesus told them that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. When Jesus started his earthly ministry, he was tempted by the devil. One of the temptations was that if he would bow before Satan, then he would be given all the kingdoms of the earth. Jesus rebuked Satan, for he knew that his authority over the kingdoms was not acquired by bowing to Satan, but through the path of suffering, death and resurrection. For 3 years, Jesus, through his teaching and miracles, demonstrated his authority. And when he resurrected from the dead, it was the ultimate manifestation of his power and authority, not just over the earthly kingdom but the heavens as well. It is total authority. The disciples worshipped Him because He is the Lord of all.

  There is more to this. Not only has he the authority and power, the disciples, too, have his power. In Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…..” 10 days after his instruction in Acts 1:8, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they all received t he power.

  Before they obeyed and carried out the Great Commission, the disciples worshipped and received power from the Lord of all.

II.   The Great Commission's objective is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

  Vs.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.” Traditionally, many Christians put the emphasis on the word ‘go'. However, the main verb is ‘make disciples'. A disciple is a student, a learner. A disciple of Jesus Christ is someone who learns and follows Him. A disciple is someone who is willing to take up his cross and follow Christ. A disciple is John 8:31, “…. If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” A disciple is one who reads God's word, obeys the word, and lives in God's word. God's word, the scriptures, is not just knowledge tucked somewhere in the brain. Knowing and obeying the word will always lead to the transformation of life.

  A disciple is (John 13:35), “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” A disciple of Jesus Christ is someone who loves others. In Francis Shaeffer's words, “love is the final apologetic”.   How to we make disciples? What is the process?

•  Baptism. The disciples are to baptize the disciples in or into the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This means that as individuals come to know and believe in Jesus Christ, they are to be baptized. Baptism is an outward act to confirm an inner relationship with God.

•  Teach. What else beside baptism? “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” To make a disciple is not just bringing someone to pray the sinner's prayer. There is more to this. To teach them to obey all that Jesus has taught. What did Jesus teach? The Sermon on the Mount, it is the constitution of God's heavenly kingdom, the parables, teachings on hypocrisy, purity and his second coming. In other words, disciples are made by teaching them all that God has revealed to us in the scriptures, the whole counsel of God.  

III.   The great commission is without border.

  Where will this baptizing and teaching take place? “Go therefore….to all nations,..” The literal translation is : as you go, make disciples of all nations. As you're going from one village to another, one city, one nation to another, as you go to visit friends or doing business, make disciples. This is further expanded in Acts 1:8, “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria , and to the end of the earth….” Make disciples wherever you are, locally or in distant cities and nations. Whether the people are receptive or hostile, make disciples. There is no border, no boundary for the Great Commission. It includes peoples of all languages and ethnicity.   

III. Applications;

  What did this Great Commission mean to the early disciples? They heard it and obeyed it. Within 30 years after Jesus' ascension into heaven, the gospel message reached Rome , the center of Roman Empire . Wherever the disciples went, they taught the Word.

  The gospel message continued to spread throughout the centuries. With the Middle East as the center, it went towards east, west, north and south of the European continent, then across the oceans. By 800 A.D., the gospel had arrived in China, but disappeared shortly after until almost 1000 years later. By 1876, the gospel had reached many of the inland provinces. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is still moving today to places that have never heard of Jesus Christ.

  What does all these mean to us today?

•  When we think of the great commission, we must first remember to be a people of worship. Worshipping God must be a priority in life. Not just on Sunday mornings, but everyday, we worship the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the sovereign God over the entire earth. Yes, Satan has the power to scare and influence us, but he has no power over us, for he was defeated. It is like walking down the street. Then out of nowhere a dog comes barking at you. You are scared but after taking a second look, the dog is on a leash. You see, because of Jesus resurrection, he had overcome the devil. The devil may look fierce, but is on a leash.

•  When we think of the Great Commission, we're also to be a people of the book. We study the Bible and teach the Bible. We study the Bible not only for personal growth, but also to teach others both locally and in different parts of the world. We must not ignore our identity as a people of the Book.

  In the 19 th and early 20 th century, the European churches had sent out numerous missionaries to all parts of the world. Many went to Japan , China , SE Asia were from the Netherlands , Germany , Denmark , Norway , Finland and Sweden . They faithfully served in those countries all their lives, teaching God's word to the people there. But at the same time, do you know what was happening in Europe , in their home countries? The orthodox Christian faith was slowly being abandoned. The seminaries no longer taught that the Bible is God's inspired and inerrant word. Soon the churches stopped teaching the word. By the time many missionaries returned in the early and mid 1900's, the church they once knew was no longer there. As one missionary from the Scandinavian countries once said, “I came back to a church that I no longer knew. She was not the teaching the Bible anymore. I was busy sharing and teaching the gospel in Asia , but my home country has become a foreign, secular land.”

Teaching the word here is just as important as teaching the word in other parts of the world.

•  We are not to compartmentalize the Great Commission. Jesus taught us that as we go, having gone, we are to make disciples of all nations. In the Bible, there is no local or global outreach or evangelism. We are to make disciples right where we are. We live in the midst of students, professionals and families who have not heard of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore as we have gone to them, living among them, we are to share the gospel message. When we go to the barber shop, we share the gospel with the one who cuts our hair. When we go to those familiar restaurants, we are to befriend the waiters, waitress and managers and share the gospel message with them. I think of how Howard, when he was here, would talk to some waiters and waitress, and started a Bible study ministry among them.

  When your company assigned you to another city, you can share the gospel there. I also remember this engineer who, in a North Carolina church, was assigned to Frankfurt , Germany for 5 years. While he was there, he helped the local church; he reached out to the students and families in that city.

    Sometimes as we go, whether it is for business or vacation, we share the gospel with others. There are also times when God will specifically call you to go to another country, another culture, to learn their language and make disciples there. The Bible never teaches that global mission is more important than local mission. This is simply not an issue in the Bible. The Great Commission tells us that as we go, no matter where it is, to make disciples. Here at HCC, like many other churches, we have local and global mission outreach. This is for the purpose of administration, not because they are different or that one is more important than the other. The Great Commission refers to here, there and everywhere.

Conclusion:   

  In Matthew 28 we read about the great commission. In Acts1:8, we read a similar but slightly different version of this commission. In the book of Acts, we see how the early Christians were obeying this commission and brought the gospel message to all parts of the world they knew. However, have we noticed that this great commission was not mentioned again in the epistles? We know Jesus' great command: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and might and love our neighbors as ourselves. In the Acts, we see how the disciples loved one another. In the rest of the NT, we see this theme and Jesus' other teachings were taught and expanded by the apostles. Why is there a silence on this topic in the Epistles?

  You see, the OT points to Jesus Christ. The Gospels and the book of Acts show us the reality of Jesus Christ and his earthly ministry, including his teaching. The Epistles further explained and expanded Jesus' teaching. They teach us how to live a life pleasing to God, growing into maturity, be Christ like disciples of Jesus Christ.

  Therefore the priority of this and any other church is to focus on making disciples. We bring people to faith in Christ, and we continue to teach them God's word in its entirety. As we teach believers to love God and men, helping them obey and grow, then, telling others about Jesus becomes a part of us. For this reason, we teach that evangelism, whether at home or away from home, is not something we do, it is a way of life. It is a life-style.

  Now we'll have two brothers and sisters come and share with us how this Great Commission works in their lives.

Two testimonies here:

  Everyone of us is here, because someone has come to know Christ, was baptized and is taught God's word, and in turn teaches God's words to others. Now that this word has come to you, as you have believed and studied, as you go home today, to work/study tomorrow, share it with others. Quoting Hudson Taylor, “ "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed"