Making Disciples Is Our Ministry

Transcript

GRM 1041
09/13/2009
Making Disciples Is our Ministry
Matthew 28:16-20
Gil Rugh


I always like to take a little bit of time and focus on passages that are key to our ministry, foundational to what God has called us to be and to do as His people, as His church. And we're going to look at one of those familiar passages together today in Matthew 28, the passage known as the Great Commission. Very familiar to us. In one form or another the content of what is found in this commission is found at the end of all four gospels as well as in the first chapter of the book of Acts. And that helps draw to our attention the focal point of what Jesus would have us as His people doing as His servants in these days. Now the setting is not always the same, don't misunderstand, but at the end of each of the gospels and at the beginning of the book of Acts the same basic message is imparted to His followers.

We will focus our attention on the Great Commission at the end of the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew Jesus will address His disciples and followers on a mountain in Galilee, where in Acts 1 at the time He will depart for heaven, He will be addressing them in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. So the settings are different but the content of what He tells His disciples again and again is a reminder now that He is the resurrected Christ.

There are changes that have occurred. We looked into the Sermon on the Mount together recently. There Jesus was talking about the kingdom that He would establish on the earth, the requirements for a person to be part of that kingdom when it is established, some of the description of what a person would be who is going to go into the kingdom. He has offered the kingdom to Israel, but the kingdom has been rejected by the nation Israel. So Christ was not going to establish the kingdom at this time during His earthly ministry. That's not a change in God's plan but from what He had revealed there will be now additional revelation revealed. The Old Testament talks about the fact that the Messiah would come and suffer and die and that the Messiah would rule and reign in glory. But the prophets did not understand how He could do both and the Jews of Jesus'
day chose to just ignore what it said about the suffering and death of Christ and put all their attention on the fact when the Messiah comes He will deliver us, He will establish a kingdom and we will reign with Him.

Well the death of Christ has occurred, the resurrection has occurred and yet there is confusion, even among the followers of Christ. They do not yet understand all that is taking place. And so there will be a process of learning during the forty days following His resurrection and the ascension that Acts 1 records. He instructed and taught them from the Old Testament scriptures, but they still won't understand. We'll see that as we move along.

In Matthew 28 you have the account of the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week, the women come to the tomb, the tomb is empty but an angel meets them. And verse 5, the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here for He is risen just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead. And behold He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him. Note that promise, He is going ahead of you into Galilee.

Back up a moment to Matthew 26. Here just prior to His crucifixion in what we call the Last Supper that Jesus had with His disciples, He tells them that He is going to be arrested, He's going to die. They will be scattered. But then He tells them in verse 32, but after I have been raised I will go ahead of you into Galilee. This meeting in Galilee is important. He had told them on the night of His betrayal that He would meet them after His resurrection in Galilee. Then the angel tells the women at the tomb on the day of the resurrection, tell the disciples He's going to meet you in Galilee. Galilee is to the north of Jerusalem as most of you are aware. You think of Israel where Jerusalem is, up to the Sea of Galilee and the region of Galilee. It's where Jesus' earthly ministry primarily took place. Many of the significant events like ultimately the crucifixion took place down at Jerusalem, but much of His earthly ministry and teaching took place up in the region of Galilee. Eleven of the twelve disciples were Galiileans, in fact they were referred to as men of Galilee. Acts 1 uses that reference. Only Judas Iscariot was a non-Galilean.

Why did Jesus choose Galilee as the meeting place? Well one reason might be simply Jerusalem is a hotbed of opposition to the followers of Christ. So not only was this a place where His ministry was focused, where His disciples were from, but it also removes them from the capital city where the Jewish leadership resides and where the persecution is the most intense. As we'll make reference to in a little bit, it also may provide for a broader meeting, a larger group than would perhaps be possible in Jerusalem at this time. You'll note when the angel addressed the women in Matthew 28:7, He said go and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead. Behold He is going ahead of you into Galilee. And there you will see Him. Behold I have told you. This would seem to indicate the women would be part of that meeting. And we'll talk about the possibility that there is a larger group here that will meet with Him on the mountain in Galilee.

Come down to verse 16. The eleven do what they are told—proceed to Galilee. The travel to Galilee would take 5+ days walking up from Jerusalem. So there is some time here. This is not the first meeting Jesus will have with His disciples, He met with them on the day of His resurrection. So His immediate disciples have had contact with the resurrected Christ already, but this will be a meeting that will take place in Galilee. And verse 16 tells us it's the mountain that Jesus had designated. We're not told what mountain that was. It's interesting how much of Jesus' significant teaching to His disciples took place on a mountain. We looked at the Sermon on the Mountain in Matthew 5-7. He was transfigured in the presence of three of His disciples on the mountain of transfiguration. So different occasions, this kind of setting. We're not told what mountain in Galilee, probably not the mountain of transfiguration which is probably too far north for this meeting, but a mountain that He had told them about, it's not recorded, they knew where to go. They go there to meet Him.

We're told it was the eleven disciples who went there, but it may well be that there were more that ultimately assembled here than just the eleven. The focus is on the eleven, they are the leadership that Christ has prepared. As we come into the book of Acts they will be the leadership for the new ministry with the establishing of the church in Acts 2. But the instruction to the women would seem to indicate that they would probably be privileged to be part of this group as well. And it may be the meeting happens in Galilee because a significant number of believers in Christ would have resided in Galilee. And you can imagine that with the amount of time it would take to travel to Galilee, approximately a week, word would spread and get out. I mean the talk has been going on about the resurrection of Christ of course, obviously, and now to say that He's going to meet with His disciples, word would spread quickly. And we may assume that there was a significant group there.

Over in I Corinthians 15:3 Paul talks about the ministry he had of teaching the gospel. He delivered of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture; verse 4, He was buried, He was raised on the third day. He appeared to Cephas, Peter, then tot he twelve. Verse 6, after that He appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Now we don't know for sure but it could have been at this meeting in Galilee. That would have allowed on the mountain. Why meet on the mountain If He was just going to meet with the eleven He could have done that in a closed room like He did down in Jerusalem when they were closed in for fear of the Jews. But here He meets with them on a mountain, a setting that He has used to teach a larger group, a broader setting. So it may have been that these 500 believers had gathered as word spread through Galilee that Christ was going to be appearing and meeting with His followers. So that is a possibility.

Come back to Matthew 28:16. His 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. Now with verse 16 you get a picture it seems, Jesus came up and spoke to them, they see Him coming from some distance. In fact, for some of these, as He gets closer they fall down and worship Him. But if this indeed is a group of 500 you can understand that there are some in the group who haven't seen the resurrected Christ prior to this. And like you have sometimes seen someone and you are just shocked to see them. Is it really you? There is no indicated here that they doubt the resurrection but is this really the resurrected Christ. Not just a spirit but truly Him in body, resurrected here to talk with us? It seems as soon as He draws close enough and speaks to them, all doubt is dissolved because there is nothing more said about it. Immediately He moves to give them their instructions.

It's important to note here that these believers fell down and worshiped Him. That's something you do only to God. In the book of Revelation the angel who was instrumental in revealing so much material to John had such an impact on John that John falls down to worship the angel. The angel immediately stops him. An angel who serves in the presence of God as God's spokesman, and yet he says to John, don't worship me. You only worship God. Here they fall down and worship Christ and He receives the worship. Another clear indication of His deity and the recognition of His deity.

Verse 18, we move right into what we know as the Great Commission. Jesus came up and spoke to them. We don't have time to talk a lot about the name Jesus, but it interests me. The gospel of Matthew is a gospel that emphasizes Jesus as king of the Jews. The term Christ, the title Christ is a title, the Christos, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the One anointed by God to be the Messiah, the king of the Jews. You might think that would be the most common title for Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, but it's used only thirteen times. Christ Jesus, the title and the name, are only used twice in Matthew. But the name Jesus is used 146 times in the gospel of Matthew. Think about it. Christ is used as a title 13 times, Christ Jesus twice, Jesus 146 times.

Turn back to Matthew 1, this is where it starts. The angel has appeared and told Mary about the fact she would conceive the Messiah, then the angel appears to Joseph and tells him. The end of verse 20, the angel told Joseph, the child who is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Verse 21, she will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus, the Greek form for Jeshua, the Hebrew Joshua. He is the Savior, Jehovah saves, Jehovah's salvation. You call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sin. This is foundational to everything. There cannot be a kingdom for Israel without a Savior for Israel, someone to pay the penalty for sin. He will save His people from their sins, Jesus. And that becomes Matthew's favorite way to identify our Savior, the One who is the Savior. Jesus the Savior and thus the King because He will be able to reign over the kingdom which will be populated by the redeemed, the saved.

Come back to Matthew 28. Jesus came up and spoke to them saying. First He identifies the power that is His, His position as the One with all authority. All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. And that word all will dominate verses 18-20. Just note them and then we will look at them as we come along. All authority in verse 18; verse 19, all the nations; verse 20, all that I commanded you; and then the last part of verse 20, always. And if you have a note in your margin, that literally is all the days. So you have all authority, all nations, all that I commanded, all the days. It is an all encompassing statement that He makes and it begins with the fact that all authority, all power. He has total sovereignty over everything in heaven and on earth. The authority of Jesus Christ is absolute, it has been given Him. It would have been given Him by His Father.

We need to note something here. Jesus is the God Man. If He is God why does He have to have authority given to Him? Does He not have authority by virtue of the fact that He is God? You understand this is the One that Isaiah saw in a vision in Isaiah 6, he saw the Lord, lofty and exalted, sitting on His throne. The train of His robe filled the temple and the seraphim cried out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And in John 12:31 we are told that Isaiah really saw Jesus Christ before His incarnation and birth at Bethlehem. John 1 tells us, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And he goes on to tell us that all things were created by Him. I thought He had all authority, and yet now it has been given Him as the result of His death and resurrection. Understand what is taking place. He had all authority as God, but He was born at Bethlehem and took to Himself full humanity so that He was now the God Man. And as the God Man He carried out the will of God in providing redemption through His death on the cross. And His resurrection sealed and brought to completion and fulfillment what God had promised in providing a salvation for sinful mankind. And it is the God Man, the Savior that He now has all authority given to Him.

Turn over to Philippians 2. The Apostle Paul writes concerning this very matter. Verse 5, have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. So you see He resided as God, He existed, yet His being as God and enthroned in glory. Yet He did not regard this equality as a thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself. We call this passage the kenosis passage because of the Greek word here. He emptied Himself, He set aside that glory and the use of the attributes that was His as God. he voluntarily set that aside. He took the form of a bond servant, being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, 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 every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You see the same all encompassing authority. And every knee, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, wherever they be will bow in subjection to His authority. The demons, they are beings under His authority, unfallen angels under His authority, everyone on earth under His authority. That's why we as believers live in a different dimension, if you will, because we recognize there are various human authorities delegated by God, but all authority is in the hands of our Savior. Not in the hands of our President, not in the hands of our Supreme Court or the Congress, not in the hands of the European Union, not in the hands of the powerful rulers of countries. It is in the hands of our Savior. Everything is under control. God is working all things through His Son to bring everything to the culmination with the kingdom that He will establish on earth with His personal presence. All authority has been given to Him as the God Man, the Savior, the one who is God but God in flesh, the incarnation, the God Man who now with the completion of salvation's plan, all authority, back in Matthew 28:18, has been given to Me. That's why we as believers say, everything is under control. It is so inconsistent for believers to wring their hands, to become so frustrated and upset. You understand all authority, all power resides in our Savior. The stupidity, the foolishness, the things that make no sense—why do they do that. Calm down, all authority doesn't reside with them. God is using even the sinful rebellion of man for the accomplishing of His purposes.

The betrayal of Judas, the actions of Pilate, the crucifixion of Christ by the Jews, using the Romans. Everything is under God's control and now all authority has been given to the Son and there is no place you can go to get away from the authority of Jesus. Everything in heaven, on earth, under the earth, wherever you go, you will never escape the authority of Jesus Christ. You can rebel against His authority, you cannot escape His authority. Those who rebel against His authority will receive punishment, the punishment being an eternal hell. So when He says all authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth, we need to grasp the significance of that. As you and I sit here today in this part of the world, this country, all authority has been given to Him.

Now that prepares the way for what He is going to say, He's going to give a command to His followers. You understand this comes from the One who has all authority, the One to whom we have submitted our lives in faith so that we are no longer our own because we were bought with a price. The One with all authority now gives a command to His followers, and the command is make disciples. That's the basic command here. It is joined with three participles. The basic command is make disciples, then you have three participles—go, baptize and teach, which are to be taken in the context of this command.

Look at that command. Make disciples. Aorist imperative, a strong, sharp command, something that must be done. ________________ all authority given to Me, I command you make disciples. There is no where to escape His authority, and now this is addressed just to His followers, those who worship Him, believe in Him. Make disciples. A disciple is a learner, a follower. You are to go and have men, women and young people submit themselves to Me, to learn from Me.

Come back to Matthew 11:28, come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Go, make disciples, have them come and put My yoke upon them to learn from Me. That's what a disciple is—a learner, a pupil, a student, a follower in the sense that a student follows his teacher, he learns from him, takes instruction from him, and so on. He is submissive to him. A disciple becomes a Christian in title. In Acts 11:26 we are told that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Disciple was a term that was used by a variety of people. Different ones had disciples. Here we specify, the disciples we are talking about are Christians, they are the ones who follow Christ, who submit to Christ, who learn from Christ, who have taken the yoke of Christ. You are to go and make disciples. Being a disciple costs you nothing and costs you everything. You can't buy your way into discipleship, but you can't become a disciple without giving up everything.

Back up to Matthew 10:24, Jesus said a disciple is not above his teacher. So you see the connection between a disciple and a teacher. Nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, the slave like his master. He says if you become My disciple you become like Me; if I'm your master, you are My slave, you become like Me, you serve Me. And it goes on in this discussion. Therefore you don't fear them, verse 26, and He goes on that they are to tell what He tells them. Come down to verse 37, he who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; he who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. You see the point? He is talking about a complete allegiance. Now your relationship to Me supersedes everyone, everything. The closest personal relationship you have had, now they are nothing in comparison to the relationship you have with Me. And those are the conditions of discipleship.

So you let go of everything when you take hold of Christ in faith. But you can't purchase this, you can't work for this, you can't earn this. So it costs you nothing, but it costs you everything. And now the one consuming relationship of your life is your relationship to Jesus Christ, the one passion of your life is to be obedient to Him, to honor Him, to serve Him, to be like Him. That's what He's talking about when He says, go make disciples. As He addresses His disciples He tells them go make disciples. They understood at least to a degree because of His teaching up to this point what was entailed, what's the responsibility.

Come back to Matthew 28. Go make disciples. We don't understand. There is confusion today, people think Jesus got twelve men around Him, taught them, discipled them so now I get men around and they become my disciples. He didn't say make disciples for yourself. Gil Rugh is not to make disciples for Gil Rugh. There is only one person to have disciples, that is the Savior. Right? He says make disciples. What does that mean? What did He tell them in Matthew 10 which we just read? Take up your cross and follow Me. He didn't say take up your cross and follow Peter. Doesn't mean they didn't learn from Peter, you wouldn't learn from John, you wouldn't learn from others and later Paul. But the disciples belonged to Christ. He is the teacher, He is the master. We make disciples of Christ. How do we do that? Well the carrying out of this will be seen in the book of Acts. Acts 1 will start out with Jesus telling the disciples shortly before He ascends the Mount of Olives down by Jerusalem. You will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My witnesses. My witnesses, testifying about Me in Jerusalem, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the world. We'll see that in a moment.

You go through the book of Acts, what do they do? They repeatedly tell the story of Christ. He is the One, the Son of God who suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for sins, your sin, you wicked men who crucified Him. And He was raised from the dead. Those who believed became disciples, Christians. Make disciples. Understand we are lights in the world. We saw this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. You don't have a light and put a bushel over it, the purpose of a light is to give off light in darkness. Paul told the Philippians, you are lights shining in the darkness. We are to make disciples, followers of Christ by telling them the gospel.

You know I have to say as I consider the plan of God, and you understand how I mean this, there is a weak link it seems. Lord, you've planned a marvelous work of redemption for fallen, sinful human beings and you had your Son who is God also become a man and come to this earth to suffer and die and be raised to provide the salvation. You've planned glory for those who are saved, but then you connected it all to frail human beings, vessels of clay, as Paul terms it in his letter to the Corinthians. We have the treasure of the message of the gospel in these earthen vessels. I mean Peter is here. How many times has he stumbled, even denied the Lord three times at a key point. I mean, you entrust the message now to earthen vessels? But it's part of the plan of God. Why? So that all the glory for the salvation goes to Him.

Now it's good to be reminded of this. When Christ said to go make disciples, He knew what He was talking about. He was talking to Peter and others, they are vessels of clay. We sometimes think, I can't do that. That's the whole point. When you share the gospel with someone and they get saved, no one thinks you are anything special. You are just a lump of clay. And I would share the gospel with anyone who got saved? I walk away and say, you're something. Did you? No, you're dumbfounded. Someone got saved for eternity and you were the instrument. That's what Jesus is saying. Make disciples. I can't save anyone, but I can. Paul said I become all things to all men that I might by some means save some. How do I save anyone? Only God can save a soul but He always does it by His sovereign plan by using a human instrument. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. And how can they hear without someone to tell them? I mean, you need someone that God sends to tell. Make disciples. That's what we are about, giving out the message of Christ.

Now let me tell you something else about a disciple. You know we saw in the passages, and there are many others but we don't have time to look at them today, on discipleship. Understand it was a life. Take up your cross and follow Me. We get some restricted idea that a person trusts Christ and that happens in a moment in time, and I believe it does. And then something else may happen or nothing else may happen. Understand what Jesus said, take up your cross and follow Me. It is a life that has a beginning. You must be born again, born from above. That happens through faith in Christ. But when you are born again you become a child of God, you partake of the divine nature and life is never the same. This is so important. We have thousands of people walking around saying, I'm a Christian. You know that means you have come to understand and believe the gospel by the grace of God and now have a life lived in obedience to the Savior, the One to whom you have submitted yourself in faith as your teacher, your master. You are no longer your own, you have been bought with a price. Now you must glorify God in your bodies. Praise God. Being a disciple is a life, being a Christian is a life. It's just not a moment in time and now I go on with my life. It is a moment in time that changes life for eternity. In Christ now I have been made new, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, Paul said to the Galatians. Make disciples. Give them the message of Christ.

Let's look at what He says about that. Go. There is discussion, you can read commentaries and some grammarians. I've read several pages out of a grammatical book this week and enjoyed it and they had great material on attended participles, as this is called, go. Or an aorist participle preceding an aorist imperative is usually called an attendant participle and takes on some of the characteristics of that verb. Isn't that interesting? The point is it can carry some of the force of the imperative. The basic command is to make disciples, and that will involve go, or having gone if you prefer. The point is I take it that this is not just limited to certain missionary people, though it would include that, like Paul will do. But I take it that it includes the followers of Christ. If this band is the 500 it includes them. And by the Spirit of God putting it here, it is here for us. What are we to be? Lights in the darkness, that's what the Philippians were to be. Wherever we go, whatever we're doing, first and foremost who is the One with all authority in our lives? Who is the One that I serve? Who is the One that I represent? Who is the One that I am to be like? So it's a marvelous plan. It's just not a few individuals sent here and there, although God in His grace sent specific individuals to different places. But that doesn't exclude me, that's just not me. I thought you were a disciple, I thought you were a follower of Christ, I thought you were a Christian. Yes. Then it's you, it's me. That's what we are, wherever we go we're there for what? I'm here first for this, superseding everything else. I'm here serving Jesus Christ, I'm here representing Jesus Christ, I'm here making Jesus Christ known.

What a plan. Look around, how many people sitting here and tomorrow we will be spread all over the place, and we have lights going out everywhere. That's why Jay O'Neal shared in II Corinthians 2:14ff Paul says, we are the savor of Christ, we give off the knowledge of Christ in every place. What a plan that all these lights going out everywhere. That's what they are to do, make disciples, go and do it.

Now what are you to do? You are to make them of all the nations. Now there is a shocker. The disciples didn't have any idea what He was talking about here. They understood that all the nations meant ethnos. That carries it beyond the Jews. It wouldn't exclude Jews, but the point is this goes beyond Israel. This is a total change in the plan.

Back up to Matthew 10. He's just selected the twelve disciples, appointed them and then He tells them in verse 5, these twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, do not go in the way of the Gentiles. Do not enter any city of the Samaritans, the Samaritans were half-Jews, Jews that in past times had intermarried with Gentiles, mixed breed. You don't even go to them. Go rather to the lost sheep of the hourse of Israel. Don's go o the nations, don't even go to those who are half breed Jews, if you will. You only go to Jews.

Look over in Matthew 15. A Caananite woman comes to Jesus and says, my daughter is demon possessed. And note who she approaches him. Verse 22, a Caananite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David. I mean what faith in this Caananite woman to acknowledge Him as Lord, the Son of David, the prophesied king of Israel. Have mercy on me, my daughter needs deliverance. Jesus doesn't even answer her. She keeps crying out and it's getting on the disciples' nerves. And they said, tell her to go away, she's getting on our nerves. He said, verse 24, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I won't help this Caananite woman, she is not part of Israel. She's part of the nations and I wasn't sent to the nations, just to Israel. She came up and said, Lord, help me. You know what He says to her? You are a dirty dog, I don't help dirty dogs. I mean that's an evangelistic program? I mean, you understand Jesus was here for Israel, that's what He said to her. It's not good to take the children's bread, the children are the Jews, and give it to the dogs. The dogs were the non-Jews. I come to you for help and you call me a dog, what kind of Messiah are you? No, you don't understand who the Lord is here. She says, Lord, even the dogs get to eat the crumbs. I'd just like a little crumb. I don't think you ought to turn from your program to your people, but I'm just looking for a crumb. She gets it, her daughter is healed.

But you understand here this is the context of the disciples' ministry. They came to represent Christ to the Jews. Now He says to go make disciples of all the nations. They don't understand this. We'll go all the way to Acts 10 before Peter understands it. And there it took special revelation from God, remember, so he would even be willing to go and tell Cornelius and the Gentiles the gospel. And then when he does it in Acts 11, the rest of the believing Jews and the disciples in Jerusalem hear Peter went and told the gospel to Gentiles, they immediately call him in and say, what do you think you are doing, telling Gentiles the gospel? I mean, to them this is just ............ You don't go to dirty Gentiles with the gospel. You get all the way to Acts 11, even the leadership of the church didn't understand what it meant to make disciples of all the nations. After Peter relates to them, this is amazing, God is going to save Gentiles. Can you believe it? Aren't you glad? Look around, how many Jews are sitting next to you? Aren't you glad God saves Gentiles? I am, I haven't been able to find any Jewish blood in me and most of you are Gentiles. We live in the day of the fullness of the Gentiles, according to Romans 11 and Jews are saved but it is a small number compared. Now God's program is encompassing the Gentiles. He's not done with the Jews but we are in the process of telling all nations, everyone everywhere.

So I don't have to think about, I wonder if I should talk about Christ here. Well, are they part of all? The homiletics professor who helped me understand, he said all means all, that's all all means. So should I tell them the gospel? Well, tell it to all the nations. Are you an all? I guess so, I guess I'll tell you. We can simplify our life. We tie ourselves all up in knots trying to make decisions, the One who has all authority has already made for us. All we have to do is do what He tells us. Isn't it great? How many times do you go through this with your kids. You tell them to do something and they try to figure out .............. And you say, just do what I told you. But I was thinking that ........ Just do what I told you. And here we have the One who has all authority telling us and all I have to do is what He tells me.

Back to Matthew 28. Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptizing them. Baptism is not necessary for salvation, we can't take time to go off on that road. But disciples are to be baptized. You don't have to be baptized to become a disciple, but when you are a disciple you must be baptized. It's not optional. It's not requirement to be saved but is a requirement of those who are saved. You understand all authority has been given to Me. Make disciples and baptize them. Yet some people say, I'm a believer in Christ but I haven't been baptized. Why? Well I give my testimony in other ways, I don't think baptism is necessary. Well who gave you all authority? Let's go back to the basic point, who has all authority here? What did He say? Make disciples, baptizing them. The only thing just about there is universal agreement among commentators is there is no consideration in the New Testament of such a thing as an unbaptized disciple. That's different than baptizing babies, we're talking about disciples, those who have come to believe in Christ, committed themselves to follow Him, know what it means to take up the cross and follow Him and so on. They must be baptized. Well I don't see the importance, I don't think it serves the same function today as it did in another day. You know what the Lord has said, just do what He tells you. Well I think ............. Just do what He tells you.

Isn't that what He says? All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go make disciples, baptizing. I have questions, if a person claims he is a believer and is not baptized, I don't know that he is truly saved. Where He is going here, there are no secret disciples. What's going to happen on the Day of Pentecost? Peter will preach a sermon and call them to repent and those who repent are to be baptized. There are no secret disciples here. I don't think it's good for me to make too much of this that I've trusted Christ. It will probably enable me to be a better witness if I just keep it low key. Jesus is not looking for those kinds of followers. To be a follower of Him you have to be willing to give up everything. Baptism publicly identifies you with Christ. That doesn't mean you'll be saved, you might profess faith in Christ and be baptized and you are still lost. Acts 8 records Simon, and after he professes to believe and gets baptized, his further actions reveal, you are still in the bonds of your iniquity and you are under God's judgment. You better repent. So making a profession and getting baptized doesn't save you, but those who have truly trusted Christ better do what the One who has all authority tells His disciples to do. Period.

And you baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you ought to just note here, in the name, singular, of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, plural. In the name, there is one God but He eternally exists in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God, three persons. Not one God, three ways of manifesting Himself like I am a father, a husband and a pastor. That's one person with three modes of manifestation—modalistic monarchiasm from church history, Sibelianism and those things. There is one God eternally existing in three persons. I know it's true, I don't understand it. I mean, my comprehension is limited by my finite mind. But the baptism here is the name of one God who eternally exists in three persons. You are identified with this God in your baptism through faith in Christ.

And then you are teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. The presentation of the gospel is the beginning and now the development to maturity. Teaching them, so that they will know a lot. No, you are teaching them to observe, to do, to practice all that I commanded you. That's why we come and study the Word of God together. We want to know what God requires of us, what Christ demands of His followers so we can do it. Not that we can know more about the Bible than someone else, but that we can implement everything that He has commanded in our lives. This is not just for information, this is for information to be translated into living. We are to be teaching all that I commanded you. That's why Paul wrote to Timothy and said that the church is the pillar and support of the truth, the place where the truth is continually taught and presented. That's why we have Bible studies, that's why we're involved in a variety of things. Everything comes back to what God has called us to do—make disciples, have them identified with Christ and be taught and matured.

All that I commanded you. There are parts of the Word of God we like better, parts we find harder. All that I commanded you. That's why we start at the first verse of a book and just keep on going. That way we can cover everything that is there.

And lo I am with you always. That word lo, behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. What a promise to end on. You know this is a clear responsibility set out, it's not an easy one. We all know that. It's clear, it's not easy. People say, Lord, it just wasn't clear to me. What in these statements isn't clear? It's clear. Well I guess I mean it was not easy. That's right, I never said it was easy. Did I say take up your cross and follow me? Didn't say take up your sailboat, take up your golf clubs. Take up your cross. That identifies something unpleasant. Doesn't mean you can never golf or sail or anything, but being involved in what is ______________ is what it is. But the promise is behold, I am with you all the days. I like the way that is. _________ every day, and every day He is with me. He is with me all the days. Well that was a promise given 2000 years ago, maybe ........... No, it's to the end of the age. An indication here this carries beyond just those hearing it. This is a promise and these are commands, these are instructions, this is for all of those who are His followers and would become His followers. I am with you all the days, the good days, the bad days; the hard days, the easy days; the painful days, the pain free days. I am with you all the days. I wonder about tomorrow. Even to the end of the age. ______________________________ The kingdom comes, we'll know. Be at ease, He is with us to the end of the age. What more do I need? Oh if I only had someone to go with me. The One who says I will never leave you nor forsake you will go with you. I'm with you always, all the days, all day every day He is there. In my despair at times I say, Lord, are you there. Dumb questions, He's already told me He is there. Lord, I don't feel like you are here, I feel like I'm alone. I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age. Get over it. Doesn't matter how you feel, He is here, He is with me every day.

I'm out to talk to someone, I feel like what's the response going to be. He's with me, I'm here representing Him and I think, what would I say if he were standing right there. I'm too embarrassed to tell them who you are, Lord; I'm too embarrassed to tell them what you did. I'd say, if the Lord were standing here I'd say I want to tell you about the Lord who is here with me. He died on the cross for your sins, my sins. He was raised from the dead, He is alive. You can be saved by believing in Him, He is with me. If I had a couple people go with me, I'd speak out. Who else do I need? The Lord is with me. That doesn't mean we don't encourage one another, we don't support one another and we carry on a ministry as a body. But you understand the foundational issue is He has promised, behold, I will be with you all the days, even to the end of the age.

Our lives personally and the ministry we have as a church that the One who has all authority established with Himself as the head of the church in Acts 2. This is what we are about, making disciples. We are here taught so we can go out and tell others, baptizing them so they are identified openly and clearly with Jesus Christ. And there is no going back. Teaching them so that they can do everything He says. Because a disciple is to be like his teacher, a slave like his master. That's the process going on. And some day when Jesus Christ comes again He'll rule and reign and we'll be part of that glorious kingdom.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the wonder of your salvation. Thank you that Jesus is indeed the Savior, His very name identifies Him as the One in whom there is life. And there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Lord, I pray for any who are here today who perhaps heard this message over and over, perhaps have thought that they had trusted Christ. Lord, your Spirit holds the mirror of your Word up that their life reveals not the character of Christ, but the character of the unredeemed. May this be a day of salvation. Lord, for all of us who have become Christians, disciples, learners, slaves, may we delight to know that the One with all authority has given us clear command and a wonderful promise to be with us every day until He comes again. We praise you in His name, amen.