“Going” – Matthew 28:18-20
1. Michelangelo referred to the work of sculpting as “Making Men.”
2. With his creative eye, as he looked at a block of rough stone, he
envisioned a form inside it.
3. The act of sculpting was for the master simply the task of cutting
away the unnecessary stone.
4. Michelangelo was once pushing a heavy block up a small incline to
his work area so he could do some sculpting.
a. a neighbor watched him for over an hour as he
worked to get this block in place.
b. finally he asked, “Michelangelo, why do you
labor so hard over that ugly, heavy piece of rock?”
c. the artist replied, “There is an angel inside
that wants to come out.”
5. Despite Michelangelo’s genius, he started 44 statues but completed
only 14.
a. in an Italian museum you can see his 30
unfinished works.
b. there are huge blocks of marble, some with
only a hand or a foot completed.
1. God sees the potential masterpiece that resides in every single
one of us.
2. And none of His works will ever be left unfinished!
3. Did you know that a work of art is exactly what the Bible calls
you?
4. Look with me at Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them.
a. the word
“workmanship” is the Greek word ‘poema’
b. we get
our word ‘poem’ from it.
c. it meant
a finely crafted work of art –
d. a thing
of great beauty, skillfully fashioned by a master.
5. That’s what we are – God’s poema – His finely
crafted work of art.
6. And what He has begun in us, He will
complete! [Phil. 1:6]
1. Turn now to Matthew 28 –
2. As we see how God has called us to work with
Him in this “Making of Men & Women.”
1. After the Resurrection, Jesus told the
disciples to return to
2. In v. 16 we read
16Then the eleven disciples
went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17When
they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
3. Jesus told them to go to a mountain they were
familiar with.
4. When they arrived, Jesus appeared to them
again – and when they saw Him, they worshiped.
5. Even though they all worshiped, for some
there was a holding back.
a. the resurrection
was too new, and just too good to be true.
b. they were
having a hard time getting their minds around the FACT that Jesus had conquered death, for they had seen Him die in the
most terrifying way.
c. the idea ANYONE could come back from what Jesus
had suffered was simply outside their intellectual ability to grasp.
d. and yet,
here He was! So their hearts
worshiped, even while their minds wrestled.
6. It’s vs. 18-20 we want to focus on, but
notice WHERE they were when Jesus
spoke to them – on a mountain. This will
become important later.
18And
Jesus came and spoke to them, [STOP]
1. Catch that – it’s important: Jesus had appeared to them in vs. 16
& 17 but was standing before them.
2. When they worshiped Him, He came among
them and spoke to them.
3. God inhabits the praises of His people.
a. when we worship, Jesus enters in & dwells
among us –
b. revealing Himself in a way the person who
doesn’t worship will never know.
4. So Jesus came and spoke to them -
saying, “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
5. In order to understand just how dramatic this statement
of Jesus is, we need to do a quick review of Biblical history.
a. in Genesis 1 we read that when God created
man & woman, He delegated dominion over the earth to them. [vs. 26-28]
b. being created in His image, they were the
agents of His authority over the physical creation.
c. Lucifer, the highest of all God’s created spiritual
beings, staged a heavenly coup and tried to steal God’s throne. [Isa 14 &
Eze. 28]
d. the rebellion was unsuccessful & Lucifer
was removed from his role as leader of the angelic hosts.
e. but this wasn’t the end of the rebellion. Renamed
Satan, he continued his resistance against God by coming to earth and enlisting
Adam and Eve in his scheme. [Gen. 3]
f. when they turned from God to follow Satan,
they yielded the authority God had delegated to them over the physical creation,
over to the devil. [Luke 4:5-7, Romans 6:16-23]
g. though Satan had lost in his bid to gain
authority in heaven, he was successful in his bid on Earth.
h. once his authority was secure, he embarked on
a campaign of terror against humanity.
i. you see, though the devil could not assail
God Himself, he could at least attack, deface, & torment those who bear
God’s image – men & women.
j. and that’s what history has mostly been – the
long sad tale of the earth held hostage, it’s inhabitants terrorized by war,
sickness, sin, and death.
6. Dominion of Earth had been given to Man, had been forfeited
by man, and could only be reclaimed by a
7. This is why Jesus came.
a. because He was born of a virgin, the
sin-connection to Adam that had marked all other men & women was not passed
to Him. [Heb. 4:15 1 Cor. 15:45]
b. Jesus was the only one born since Adam on
whom Satan had no claim.
8. And this is why the devil worked so hard to get Him to fall!
a. if he could get Jesus to go the same way Adam
had, then his bid to claim earth & humanity as his own would be secure.
b. but if Jesus was successful in His mission
to reclaim man’s lost dominion, then his defeat was certain.
9 And this is why in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness we
find the devil taking Him to a mountain where he showed him all the
kingdoms of the Earth and history.
a. listen to how Luke tells it in Luke 4:5-7
5Then the devil, taking Him
up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will
give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and
I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before
me, all will be Yours.”
b. you see, dominion was what Jesus had come for
– to take up the mantle of authority Adam had turned over to Satan.
c. but the path to reclaiming dominion lay
through the cross.
d. Satan offered a short-cut; an easier
route.
e. but Jesus knew the devil is a liar, and the
authority He was aiming at wasn’t under Satan, but OVER him!
f. the cross was the only way to secure this
authority.
10. Now, here they are in
11. It’s after the cross, and after the Resurrection which proved the
cross had been the divine pry-bar to wrest mankind’s lost dominion from Satan’s
grip.
12. Jesus is telling the disciples what Adam lost has been reclaimed; a
new day has come for the human race.
a. we need no longer be terrorized by sin &
death.
b. we need no longer listen to or follow the
lies of the devil,
c. lies which aim at one thing = destroying the
image of God which is a man or woman’s greatest legacy & gift.
13. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth.”
a. as Man – He reclaimed authority of
Earth.
b. as God He always possessed the
authority of heaven.
c. through the Incarnation, as the God-Man; He united
ALL Authority under One head & Name, and forever broke the devil’s back.
d. this is why we read in Colossians 2:15 that
Jesus has forever stripped the demonic hosts of their power.
14. Friends, it’s crucial we understand what Jesus is saying here.
a. He is the King of all kings – the Sovereign
all earthly kings bend their knee to.
b. nothing happens that doesn’t have to answer
to Jesus for.
c. and nothing happens that ultimately won’t be
turned into the accomplishing of God’s plan.
d. just as Satan could not derail Jesus prior
to the Cross, now, even more since Satan has lost any authority, history
follows a course designed by God.
15. Based on Jesus’ all-encompassing authority He says to the disciples
-
19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.”
1. Then Matthew adds -
“Amen.”
2. This translation of v. 19 puts the emphasis in the wrong place.
a. the New & Old KJV’s put the emphasis on
“Go!”
b. but the passage is actually –
“In your going
therefore, be discipling all the nations.”
3. I realize this is a bit technical but I say it for those who’ve
taken some of Greek – the word “Going” is passive! [explain]
4. What Jesus is saying here is this –
a. because He’s now THE Authority, a new priority has been handed to us.
b. as the One to whom we surrender, our Lord
– it is His commands and His priorities we follow; without question or
hesitation.
c. and what He’s called us to concern ourselves
with, the prime directive of our lives is to be and make disciples.
d. in v. 19, that’s what the “therefore” is
there for!
5. As we go through life, following the Lord’s direction, we are to
see every moment, every event, every meeting, as an opportunity to be
a disciple and to make disciples.
6. Our real occupation, our holy vocation, is discipling.
a. our job may be as an electrical
engineer, salesperson, assembly-line worker, or student – but our calling
is discipling.
b. our position may be as a foreman,
employee, student, or home-maker, but our vocation
is discipler.
7. No matter where the Lord takes us; Jerusalem, Galilee, Syria,
Rome, London, Calcutta, Tokyo, Beijing, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, or
Oxnard – as we go, we’re to see ourselves where we are as disciples who make
disciples.
8. Jesus was making it crystal clear here to the 11, who were all
Jews, that salvation was not just for the Jewish people; it was for all
peoples.
9. The word “nations” is ‘ethnae’ from which we get our word
‘ethnic.’
a. Jesus wasn’t speaking here of geopolitical
countries with physical borders.
b. He was talking about ethnic groups, any group
of people who band together around a specific language and culture and who
define themselves as a group as distinct from others.
10. Jesus tells the 11 disciples, and by extension, us, that while the world
has been broken by sin into thousands & thousands of such ethnic groups, God’s
plan is the same for all – to become disciples of Christ.
11. Before the Cross, the world was divided into many races & ethnic
groups.
12. Since the cross and what Jesus accomplished there; His
authority erases all the previous distinctions that divided humanity into
various groups.
a. now there are just two groups, two races;
b. the old man & the new man; the old
humanity & the new.
c. the lost & the saved; those dead in sin &
those who’ve been born-again.
13. Jesus’ authority supersedes all other authorities; now there are no
boundaries that can hinder the work of discipling.
14. We are to see our lives as divinely directed by
God to be where we are because that is where He’s taken us, and to use this
moment to grow deeper in our own walk with Him while reaching out to others
with the hope & promise of a new life.
15. Last week Peter had a serious cold & was very careful to not
pass it to others.
a. he stayed home one day at the height of it
and then when he came back over the next several days he was very careful to
maintain a distance.
b. he did this because he knows that such
viruses are passed through contact.
c. generally this is the way most sicknesses are
transmitted, by contact with someone who’s sick or a carrier of the germ or
virus.
16. Those who are born again have been injected by God with a spiritual
virus –
a. not like the physical viruses that sicken a
healthy body;
b. this virus brings spiritual health to a
sin-sick & ruined soul.
c. it’s an inoculation that over time reverses
the devastating effects of sin & conforms them to the image of Christ – the
Perfect Man.
d. here’s the deal – this spiritual virus we’ve
been infected with is highly contagious – it’s passed from one person to
another.
e. God wants us to be infectious Christians –
disciples who spread the virus of the Good News of Life everywhere we go.
17. The other day I was standing in line at the store when someone
behind me started coughing. We’re
talking a loud, hacking burst that made my hair move!
a. I thought, “Oh great! What she’s got everyone
in this line is now going to get! Thanks
for sharing!”
b. what Jesus is saying in v. 19 is that I need
to have the same attitude in a positive way about where I was,
right at that moment.
c. in my going, life had carried me to that
place; the person in front of and behind me in that line were potential
disciples, and I, as a disciple, had an opportunity to be a part of what God is
doing in this world.
d. a simple word of greeting, a kind remark,
looking for an open door to turn their attention to eternal things, a
consideration of their soul.
e. evangelism doesn’t mean turning to the person
behind me and saying, “Do you know Jesus?
You’d better give your heart to Him or you’ll burn in hell forever!?”
f. if you go fishing, you don’t put a bare hook
in the water; you bait it.
g. the best evangelism is a lifestyle that is so
loving and lovely it attracts the lost by it’s excellence.
18. The best way to do what Jesus says here – to make disciples, is by
being one!
19. There’s a saying that was popular recently – “Wherever you go, there
you are.”
20. That’s pretty much what Jesus says in v. 19 – “Wherever you go,
that’s where life’s taken you, so be what you are – My disciple! And as My disciple, your priority is to make
more. So, go for it!”
1. Jesus lists the two phases or dimension of discipling –
19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 2 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
2. The first step in making a disciple is baptism.
a. baptism was simply the rite which identified
a person as born again and a member of God’s covenant people.
b. when Jesus said that we make disciples by
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, He meant that
the life of a disciple begins when they take a specific
step of identifying with God as He’s revealed Himself through the
Gospel.
c. their names are now attached to His Name.
d. in the early church, a person indicated their
reception of Christ by baptism.
e. today, while baptism is still crucial &
every Christian ought to be baptized – the church has adopted some other forms
for a person to indicate their initial faith in Christ.
1)
the “altar call”
2)
the “sinner’s prayer”
f. whatever form is used, the important thing,
the essential
thing, is that there is a specific moment, commemorated by a unique act, that
marks a person’s conscious identification with Jesus.
g. do you have that? Is there a moment in time when you said with
complete understanding; “I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again
for my justification and new life” ŕ
h. and you built a memorial to that moment by
taking a public stand?
i. baptism is public, the altar call is public.
j. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also
confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men,
him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” [Matthew
10:32-33]
k. if you’ve never taken a public stand for
Christ, we’re going to give you an opportunity to do that today in just a few
minutes.
l. so Step 1 in making disciples is conversion,
being born again,
m. which is signified by taking a public stand.
3. Then comes Step 2 – teaching.
a. in v. 20 Jesus said that we are to teach all
the things He commanded.
b. the authority of Jesus is to reach into &
transform every part of our lives –
1)
our speech
2)
our thoughts
3)
our work habits
4)
our actions
5)
our relationships
6)
our marriage & parenting
7)
our sex life
8)
our finances
9)
there isn’t a single area of our lives that isn’t to come under His lordship.
c. holiness, truth, & love are to become the
principles that govern every word, deed, & thought.
d. what Jesus says here reminds us of the
importance teaching plays in our lives as disciples.
1)
gifted teachers, anointed by the Spirit, are a vital part of discipleship.
2)
this is why the central ministry of any local church has to be teaching the
Bible.
3)
Jesus didn’t say that disciples were made by teaching psychology, or current
issues.
4)
disciples are not formed by endless topical sermons sprinkled with a few verses
torn from their context & made to say something they don’t really mean.
e. Jesus said that teaching was to convey all things
He commanded, and since He is the Word of God, that means both the OT &
NT – the entire Bible, cover to cover.
f. there is no better way to do that than to
study through the Bible verse by verse.
1. Jesus ends with -
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
2. Though Jesus ascended into heaven and was no longer visibly
present with the disciples –
3. He wanted them to know that His presence & authority would
remain with them in the Person of the Holy Spirit Who would soon come upon them
and empower them to their task of being disciples who make disciples.
4. That happened on the Day of Pentecost, not many days after this.
5. “Lo!” is one of those words that defies translation.
a. it was used by a speaker who wanted to arrest
all attention for a most important remark.
b. different Bibles translate it as “Look! –
See! – Behold!”
c. I like, “Pay close attention because this is
really, really important!”
6. Jesus wanted the disciples to realize that just as He’d been with
them for the last three years, from now on, though they couldn’t see Him any
longer, He was no less present.
7. And all that He’d done with them, they were now to go and do with
others, spreading the power of a new life to the very ends of the earth and the
end of history.
1. There’s a true story about a man in the 1950’s named Lo Tau Dang
who was a college student in
2. He was quite intelligent & an excellent student whom many held
out great hope for.
3. He was approached by some missionaries who shared Christ with him
and worked to convert him.
4. Lo was convicted of his sins & considered becoming a Christian
but balked at the last. He would not
surrender himself to the Lord.
5. He was proud and would not turn himself over to another master.
6. Still, whenever he saw the Christians, he was deeply
convicted.
7. So he decided to leave
8. His roommate turned out to be a Christian, who again shared the
love & truth of Christ with him and drove him absolutely crazy.
9. So he again packed up and moved to CA.
10. Not long after he settled into his new apartment he got a knock on
the door – it was Christians going house to house, witnessing.
a. once again they shared the gospel with him.
b. but Lo Tau Dang was resistant and when it was
obvious they were getting no where with him one of the men asked him to just
take a small NT they were giving away.
c. he refused, the man insisted, so he took it
from the man’s hand and threw it across the room into the fire in the fireplace.
11. The next day he went to clean the ashes of the previous day’s fire
out the fireplace, and noticed that of that entire NT, only one small fragment
was left unburned.
12. He lifted it to read these words – “An lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the age.”
13.
14. And there, alone in his apartment thousands of miles from his home,
God spoke to Him with a very personal word.
15. Lo Tau Dang gave up and finally surrendered himself to Christ. That’s a true story!
1. The point is this – Because All Authority belongs to Christ, and
Christ’s authority has made disciple-making the highest priority, we can be
assured the Spirit of God is at work in the people around us.
2. We don’t know the way the Lord is preparing the hearts of those we
meet and speak to.
3. We may only be planting seeds, or watering seeds others have
planted.
4. As we faithfully follow the Lord and look for discipling moments –
we will even see times of harvest.
5. I believe this is one – a time of harvest.
6. Maybe you saw the Passion this week and are here because your
heart has been stirred by God to seek Him.
7. So now, as we apply what we’ve studied today – who here wants to publicly
stand for Christ?