The Great Commission

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This past fall, the elders and I got away for our annual elder’s retreat, which is always a wonderful time to step back and look at the church and its health at the areas we feel we need to strengthen. There were several topics that were the focus of our time together. But one of these topics was so important to the health of our church and to every member of this church, that we decided to make it the focus of emphasis throughout this year. In a sense, it is our church’s New Year’s resolution. So, we agreed together, back a few months ago, that I would begin this year by addressing this crucial issue from the Word of God, and that we would encourage the sort of practical application of this manner throughout 2009, with the goal of seeing this activity become more important in each of our lives, not only for this year, but for the rest of our lives here on earth. It is one of the essentials of our church. It is an essential of the Christian life. It is the issue of sharing the gospel with others. It is the issue of evangelism.

Nowhere in Scripture is our obligation to share the gospel with others and the place that that holds in the great divine eternal plan, made more clear or presented with more profundity, than in Matthew 28, in a passage that has historically been called the Great Commission. And I invite you to turn there with me this morning. Matthew 28 and I’ll begin reading in verse 16.

“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.’”

In these last few verses of Matthew’s gospel, our Lord gave the church and each one of us a mission. As we study this familiar passage, I think there will be some surprises for you. As with so many things that are familiar, we think we know, but actually what this says is significantly

different than what we may think. So, what does this passage tell us about our mission? As we unpack what Matthew records in this fascinating account, we will discover that there are four components that we need to understand about the mission Jesus Christ has given His church - the mission that He has given me, the mission He has given you. Let’s look at them together.

The first component that we need to understand about our mission is the importance of the mission - the importance of the mission. In the 2000-year history of the Christian church, this passage has always been considered one of the peaks of New Testament revelation. It has occupied a place of great importance. Why is that? Well, there are several reasons that we could note. One of them is because this command of our Lord has always been God’s great mission.

Even before our Lord spoke the Great Commission here, the Scripture makes it plain that God intended that the message of salvation, the message of salvation in His Son, would be extended around the entire world. It’s the theme of the Bible, really. Someday we’ll look and sort of I’ll go through and show you that the great theme of the Bible is nothing less than this: God is redeeming a people by His Son, for His Son, to His own glory. That’s the theme of the entire Bible, and you see this from the very beginning.

If you go back, as it were, to Genesis 12 - we won’t go there this morning but go with me in your mind to Genesis 12. You remember the great Abrahamic Covenant. God shows up to Abraham, this idolater, and He plucks him out of His idolatry, and He makes His own, and He says, “In you I will bring a blessing to all the nations.” It wasn’t just about the Jewish people. It was in them God would bring His blessing to the whole world, to the entire earth. In Exodus 19, you remember there at the foot of Sinai, as Israel receives its new constitution as a nation, God tells the nation Israel through Moses that they are to be a “kingdom of priests”. What does that mean? That means they are to be the intermediaries between God and the rest of the peoples on earth. Israel was to be, ultimately, and to exist for one purpose and that was to be God’s great witness nation.

When you come to the prophecies about Christ Himself - turn with me to Isaiah 49. This occurs several times - this concept in Isaiah. But let me show you one of them. Isaiah 49. In one of those great servant passages, where Christ is described, notice verse 6 of Isaiah 49. God says to

His servant (to Christ): “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant / To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel?” He says, “Listen, is it too little a thing that you’re going to reach out to the nation Israel?” “I will also make You a light of the nations / So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” You see, even in the Old Testament, God had a great mission and that was to put His glory on display through a people whom He would give His Son, and that people would be comprised of people from all around the earth. This was God’s great mission.

This same mission, by the way, became the whole purpose for the apostles. You remember, when Jesus called His apostles, what He said to them? They are the first four - early in Mark’s gospel He says, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you”, what? Fishers of men. This is your purpose. This is why you’re sent. In Acts 1:8, as our Lord ascends, what does He tell His apostles. He says, “You’re going to receive power and I want you to go and be My witnesses, starting here and spreading out over the uttermost parts of the earth.” You come to 1 Peter 1, and Peter takes that passage from Exodus 19, where Israel was made God’s witness nation, and he applies that same verse to the church. The church is now a kingdom of priests. We are to be God’s witness nation to the peoples of the world. So, the idea of God’s people reaching out to the nations has always been God’s great plan, and that underscores the importance of this command our Lord gives in Matthew 28.

But there’s another reason we know it’s important, and that’s because of where it’s placed in Matthew’s gospel. You see, Jesus would not ascend to heaven until two to three weeks later, after this account. He’ll make several more appearances to His disciples in that time but Matthew, under the inspiration of the Spirit, doesn’t choose to record any of those other appearances, not even the ascension. He ends his gospel with these dramatic words, uttered by our Lord, halfway through that 40-day period after His resurrection. Matthew makes this command of Christ weighty by making it, in His record of Jesus’ life, the very last command Christ ever gave His disciples.

Another reason that this command is obviously important is because of how Jesus emphasized this meeting with His disciples. Look at verse 16: “But the eleven disciples proceeded to

Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.” Now, I don’t want to bog down here, but I want you to have some feel for what happened after Jesus’ resurrection. You remember that after the resurrection, there were some dozen or so post-resurrection appearances. On the Sunday, after Jesus was raised from the dead, He appeared to Mary Magdalene. He appeared to the other women who had come to the tomb. He appeared to Peter. He appeared to the two disciples on the Emmaus Road. And then that evening, on the first day of the week after His resurrection, He appeared to ten of the disciples (minus Thomas and Judas) in the upper room there in Jerusalem - in the locked room where they had sealed themselves off. Eight days later, He appears to the eleven disciples - Thomas is now with them in that room in Jerusalem. That is where Matthew 28:16 picks up. It’s now eight days after the resurrection, after Jesus’ appearance to the disciples - that second time in that upper room, locked away in Jerusalem.

So, they leave then to head to Galilee. Why? Well, the end of the verse tells us. They were going to one of the mountains there (we’re never told which one by the way) because Jesus had told them to gather there. And, by the way, this has happened several times. The very first time it happened was the night of the Last Supper. Look back in chapter 26 - Matthew 26:32. Jesus, on the night of the Last Supper says this to them, after He predicts His death. Verse 32: “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” So, “I’m going to die. I’m going to be raised. And then, I’m going to go to Galilee, and you’re supposed to join me there.” That’s the first time. The second time it was to the women on the morning of His resurrection. The angel told them that that’s what they were to do. Notice Matthew 28:7. The angel says to these women, who have shown up at the tomb, “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” So, the second time they’re instructed is through these women, on resurrection morning. A few minutes later, Jesus shows up to these women and tells them the same thing on that first day. Look at verse 10. As they had left the tomb and were running to tell His disciples, Jesus shows up and (verse 10): “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.’” So, on resurrection Sunday, on the Last Supper on Thursday and then twice on resurrection Sunday, He says, “Go meet me in Galilee. That’s where I’m going to be”. But eight days later, the disciples are still in Jerusalem. So, Jesus appears to them again (this time with Thomas present) and

undoubtedly reminded them of what He had already commanded them and added the exact place they were to gather. So, Matthew tells us in verse 16 that the disciples finally head to Galilee.

Now, the trip would have taken at least three days. That’s how long a journey it was in the first century. And then Jesus apparently didn’t show up at first. So, while the disciples were in Galilee waiting for Jesus to arrive, seven of them, John tells us, go fishing. And you remember the story that’s recorded in John 21 and the interchange with Peter and John. It is after that, then, that Jesus meets the 11 on a mountain in Galilee, that He had already told them to meet Him there, and He gives them this Great Commission.

What I want you to see in all of this is it is very clear, even before Jesus’ death, that He was driving His disciples to this strategic moment. And on the morning of the resurrection, twice they are told, “Go to Galilee!” And here, again, finally they make their journey eight days later to Galilee. This is a strategic moment in the plan of Jesus Christ. That makes it important.

There’s a fourth reason we can grasp the importance of this passage. It’s because of who was there to receive this command. Clearly, obviously, the 11 apostles were there on the mountain. But there were almost certainly many others there as well. I won’t take you there, but in 1 Corinthians 15, you remember, we have a list of those who saw Christ after the resurrection.

Verse 6 tells us that on one occasion, more than 500 brethren saw Him at one time. You remember that reference? Many commentators, and I have to agree with them here, connect this appearance at the end of Matthew with the meeting on the mountain in Galilee. So, in other words, the appearance of the 500 and the meeting on the mountain in Galilee are one and the same. The disciples were there - the eleven were there. As Matthew records, in addition, the rest of His followers. That explains, by the way, why Jesus would tell His disciples who were already in Jerusalem, to travel three to five days’ journey north to meet Him in Galilee, and then ultimately travel three to five days back south for the ascension just outside Jerusalem. It’s because most of Jesus’ followers were from Galilee. This would also explain why, twice, the women were told about this meeting. And the implication is they were also included. So, it wasn’t just for the eleven. Every committed follower of Jesus Christ was probably there, on the designated mountain in Galilee, when He issued this command.

By the way, verse 17 hints at this as well. Look at verse 17: “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.” Clearly, the “they” that begins the verse, has as its antecedent the 11 disciples. So, the disciples worshipped and - well they should. This was either the third or the fourth time they have seen Jesus since His resurrection. And remember, just before they left for Galilee, He appeared to the eleven and Thomas, the final holdout, the final doubter, is won over and cries out, “My Lord and my God”. So, then, who are these people at the end of verse 17 that were doubtful? The disciples are already persuaded. It must have been some of the 500 who had gathered with the 11 on this mountain. In verse 10 Jesus tells the women to tell His brethren to leave for Galilee. Just a side note: the other two times Matthew is this expression for the spiritual followers of Jesus, it’s not just the apostles that are included. It’s all His true followers. So, there are a number of clues that lead us to conclude they were all there. All of those who had truly committed themselves to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as much as were physically able, were there. So, the Great Commission was in fact, listen carefully, His last words to all of those who put their trust in Him. The disciples would later interact with Jesus again (the 11), but this was the last word to that larger crowd of those who had come to trust in Him.

So, you can see that it’s impossible to overstate the importance of this command for a number of reasons. But you need to get a handle on how important this is. Jesus was driving toward this meeting. He’d made a rendezvous with all of those who had come to trust in Him to tell them this primarily.

There’s a second component we have to understand about our mission, not only the importance of the mission, but also the authority behind the mission. The authority behind the mission.

Verse 18: “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’” Now, Matthew has made a big point of the fact in His gospel that Jesus had great authority while He was on the earth, before His death and resurrection. I won’t have you turn there, but in Matthew 11:27, Matthew records Jesus saying this: “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father...” Jesus already had, during His earthly life, great authority.

But with the resurrection, Jesus’ authority becomes all-encompassing and absolute. Notice what

He says, “all authority”. The Greek word for authority, here, speaks of the right to act, the right and power and freedom to act. Jesus Christ has the absolute, unabated right to do whatever He pleases to do - the absolute right and power to act.

Notice this authority has been “given” to Him. Obviously, that’s by the Father as a result of His perfect obedience. Philippians 2 talks about this, remember? Because He humbled Himself, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name. What is the name above every name? It’s not the name “Jesus”. It’s the name “Lord”. He’s been highly exalted to the position of absolute, sovereign Lord. And what’s the sphere of His authority as Lord? Look at verse 18 again: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Folks, that’s utterly comprehensive. In other words, the Father has given Jesus the absolute, unquestionable right to act and to rule everything in the universe - in heaven and in earth.

By the way, this was promised. God had promised His Son He would do this. Keep your finger there and turn back to Daniel’s prophecy. Daniel 7, 500 years before Jesus showed up in the world, Jesus had through - or excuse me - God had, through Daniel, prophesied that Jesus would experience this. Daniel 7:13. Daniel writes, “I kept looking in the night visions, / And behold, with the clouds of heaven / One like a Son of Man was coming, / And He came up to the Ancient of Days / And was presented before Him. / And to Him [this Son of Man] was given dominion, / Glory and a kingdom, / That all the peoples, nations and men of every language / Might serve Him. / His dominion is an everlasting dominion / Which will not pass away; / And His kingdom is one / Which will not be destroyed.” Earthly kingdoms may rise and fall, but this king will be permanently installed by God Himself - by the Ancient of Days. So, what we read Jesus saying in the Great Commission, has happened. God has now given Him that authority.

You see, Jesus is about to give all of us an absolutely audacious mission. And He wants us to know that that mission flows from a promise made to Him by His Father. Do you understand? The task of evangelism is not primarily about the people we reach. The ultimate goal of evangelism is that so those people, who are redeemed, will bring glory to Jesus Christ and glory to God. Missions, to be true, must be God-centered. Who has given Christ absolute right to rule? His Father. And what that means, practically, listen carefully, is that Christ has the

authority to give this command to us. He has the authority, through us, to command sinners to repent and believe. He has the authority, through that message, to effectually call sinners to Himself through the gospel we present. He has the authority to forgive sins. He has the authority to command, those He has forgiven, how they ought to live. Jesus has the absolute right to rule everything in the universe. That’s the one who gives us this commission.

The third component we discover that we need to know about our mission, is the details about the mission. The details about the mission. We’ve seen the authority behind the mission, let’s look at the details about the mission. Verse 19. Notice, He begins with the word “therefore” - therefore. Because Jesus Christ has the unquestioned right to rule, because He has commanded us, because He is worthy of the faith and obedience of everybody everywhere - “Go and make disciples”.

Literally, the Greek text says, “Having gone, make disciples”. The stress here is not primarily on going, although, that’s certainly implied in the “all the nations”. It’s kind of hard to see all the nations made disciples without going there. Some of those who heard this command, would be called on to go outside of Israel to other nations. Peter, for example, ends his life in Italy (in Rome) John - in Asia Minor. Thomas, tradition says, ended up in India as a faithful martyr for Jesus Christ. So, some of these people would scatter across the globe - some of these leaders.

Even some of the lay Christians, two years later in the persecution that arises over the persecution - or excuse me - over the death of Stephen, will be forced to leave Palestine. But listen carefully. Many of the 500 plus, who were there to hear this command, would return to their own homes and villages and cities in Israel, and they would remain there the rest of their lives. And this command was for them as well. Jesus is saying, “When you leave this place, wherever I place you, you must make disciples.”

What does it mean to make disciples? Well, be clear of what it does not mean. It does not mean that it’s our responsibility to get people saved. We don’t have that power. It is not our responsibility to force someone to confess Jesus Christ or to argue, convince, cajole, manipulate them into some decision. We are to make disciples. That’s the main verb in the sentence. It’s an imperative. It’s a command. If you’re a Christian, this is not optional. Make disciples! That

means that we have the power to do this. What does it mean to make a disciple? I can’t improve on the definition John Broadus gave - the great commentator of the last ... of two centuries ago now, says this: “To disciple a person to Christ is to bring him into the relation of pupil to teacher, taking His yoke (that is Jesus’ yoke) of authoritative instruction, accepting what He says as true because He says it, and submitting to His requirements as right because He makes them.” That’s what it means to make a disciple - someone who continually, as of active life, bows his or her will to that of Jesus Christ.

Now, how can we do that? How can we make someone a disciple? Well, listen to Acts 14:21. Peter ... or Paul teaches us how. It says, “After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch...” How did Paul make disciples? By preaching the gospel to them. So, the way we make disciples is simply by sharing the gospel. Ultimately, it’s nothing more than evangelizing them. It’s to share the good news with others. And as we share the gospel, Christ will work through that message and call those who are His to Himself.

It’s not just the apostles who did this. It wasn’t just Paul and Peter. It was rank-and-file Christians. In Acts 8, after the persecution arose, Acts 8:4 says, “Therefore, those who had been scattered [because of the persecution] went about preaching [announcing] the word [the good news].” Rank-and-file believers did this. You see, “Christianity”, as Broadus says, “is essentially a missionary religion. It must spread by law of its nature. It must be active at the extremities, or it becomes chilled at the heart. It must be enlarging its circumference, or its very center seems to be lost.” Jesus says, “Make disciples!”.

And notice what He adds - “of all the nations”. You see, the message wasn’t to stay in that one geographic region, for only one people group. Jesus intended that He would have disciples around the world. This was the promise, you remember, back in Daniel 7, that the Father made Him: “And to Him was given dominion, / Glory and a kingdom, / That all the peoples, nations and men of every language / Might serve Him.” By the way, this will happen. If you fast forward to Revelation 5 - you remember that scene around the throne? You remember what it says? As John looks, they’re praising God and they say, “You [the Lamb] purchased for God,

with Your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” As the song that I love (that we sing now quite often) says, “And Christ will have the prize for which He died, the inheritance of nations.”

Christ has given all of us a command to make disciples, proclaiming the gospel wherever we

are. For some, that also means leaving family and friends and going to another country - to other nations. It may mean moving to another country. There may be people here that God intends to serve Him in another place - like Doug Briggs who was, one time, a member of our church, a doctor in Dallas with a successful practice, called by God, and now full time He serves God as a missionary through his medicine. For some, it may mean not permanently leaving, but using their available time to travel overseas and use their skills on a short-term basis. There are Christians all over the world, all over the States, all over the Fort Worth Metroplex, and even some here, who do this - doctors, nurses, teachers, construction workers who find a way to use their skills internationally on short trips.

And even if you’re not one of the ones who goes, you still must think of yourself as responsible for the mission. You can’t opt out of the mission. It’s yours too. You can pray, and you can give, and you can stay in touch with those who go. You can make sure that they have what they need. You can get involved with our new international ministry. The Lord has brought the world here. Let me just ask you a very pointed question: when’s the last time you did anything for the mission God has given you to make disciples of all the nations?

The mission doesn’t stop there. Notice verse 19 again: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...” There’s the main verb - “make disciples” - but that main verb is modified by two participles that tell us what to do after someone becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ. Notice “baptizing”, and verse 20, “teaching”.

First of all, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. You know there’s a rich theology of the Trinity in that command and I am not going to take time to develop it this morning. There is obviously the unity of God in that we are baptized into “the name” (singular) and yet there is a plurality of persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) but that’s

not Matthew’s main point here. This isn’t a lesson on the Trinity. The main point is the importance of baptism. The new disciple is to publicly confess Jesus Christ as Lord through the symbolic act of baptism. Baptism is not necessary for salvation, as the example of the repentant thief clearly shows. Baptism confers no spiritual benefit on the one who’s baptized, as the baptism of Simon Magus in Acts 8 clearly shows who, after he was baptized, Peter said was full of bitterness and enslaved by sin. But, while baptism is not necessary for salvation and while it confers no spiritual benefit, by including baptism in this Great Commission, Christ is showing just how important it really is. The believer must publicly confess Christ in the symbolic act of baptism.

And that’s to be followed, notice, by instruction. Verse 20: “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you...” Once a person becomes a disciple of Christ, He is to be taught “all that I commanded you”. And, by the way, not merely as a theory or as doctrine, notice, “teaching them to observe” - that is, “to keep” is the word. “To keep all that I commanded you” - to do it, in other words, to obey it. And don’t miss the significance of that little word “all” - “all that I commanded you”.

Folks, your Christian life is not a buffet experience. You can’t just wander through the New Testament picking the commands you like, putting those on your plate, and leaving the ones you don’t like. After people become disciples and are baptized, we are to teach them to keep all His commands. By the way, that’s what I’m doing this morning. Most of us here profess to be disciples of Christ. Most of us here have been baptized in that initiatory act. So, I’m carrying out the Great Commission this morning by teaching you this command that Jesus left us. But Jesus doesn’t want me just to teach you this command so that you understand it with your mind, He wants you to keep it. And to whatever extent you fail to do so, you have failed in your own discipleship.

So, we’ve learned the importance of the mission, the authority behind the mission, the details of the mission. That brings us to the fourth and final component we need to understand: the support for the mission. The support for the mission. Verse 20 concludes with these words: “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The Greek word translated “lo” means surely.

And in the original language, the pronoun “I” is emphatic. We could translate it like this: “Certainly, I Myself, am with you”. Remember this gospel began with a reminder that Jesus would be called Immanuel. What does that mean? Immanuel in the Hebrew language meaning “God with us”. And although Jesus is about to ascend and leave His disciples, He’s telling them that His presence will be every bit as much with them even as He leaves. “Certainly, I Myself, am with you!” Notice He says “always”. Literally, “in all days” is what it says in the original language - “I am with you in all days”. Most commentators agree this is an idiom, a figure of speech that could be best translated like this: “I am with you throughout every day”. And how long will this be true? “Even to the end of the age”. In other words, to the end of human history as we know it. By the way, this shows that this commission wasn’t just for the apostles, because they didn’t exist to the end of the age. Do you understand, here, what Jesus is promising? “Surely, I Myself, will be there with you through the whole of every day, regardless of when you live in human history.”

But don’t misunderstand. This isn’t a generic promise of Christ’s presence with us as Christians. This promise is specific. It is a promise about whenever we are carrying out the mission, He has just given us. This is a great encouragement to me. I mean, do you ever feel woefully inadequate when you’re trying to share the gospel with your children or with your extended family or with your neighbors or your coworkers or friends? Certainly, I often do. But whenever, listen to this, whenever we will in obedience open our mouths and try to share the gospel with others, we will never do it on our own. We are never alone. We have our Lord’s absolute promise that He is with us, whenever it is, wherever it is, to whomever we’re speaking.

There’s a great example of this over in Acts 18. Let me show it to you - Acts 18. Paul experienced this and so will we. Here’s what it looks like. In Acts 18, Paul is in Corinth and things turn bad in Corinth even as He’s sharing the gospel. Verse 4: “And he was reasoning in the” ... or verse 5, rather there - they go “down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ [Messiah]. But when they resisted and blasphemed...” So, here’s their response. He’s sharing that Jesus is the Messiah, and they resist, and blaspheme, and are attacking him.

How do you respond when the gospel is rebuffed? Well, verse 9 says, “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, [and here’s the wonderful part] for I have many people in this city.’“ You see, when you and I share the gospel, we’re sowing the seed. We don’t know who Jesus’ people are. We’re sowing the seed. And through that seed we sow, Jesus reaches through us and draws those who are His people to Himself. But He’s with us in that process.

Listen folks! You can do this. You’re not alone - “lo, I am with you, throughout every day, even to the end of the age.” You will not be alone. Jesus Himself will be with you. There are people here this morning, perhaps young people, perhaps not so young, who have been gifted by God to give their lives to some aspect of this mission just like the 11 disciples - maybe as evangelists, maybe as missionaries, as pastors, as elders. But the rest of us are not excluded. Every one of us have been commanded by Christ to give ourselves to the mission. Most of these 500 people who heard this would return to their homes and continue to work in their businesses and shepherd their families. But they, because of Christ’s command, would find a way to get involved in the mission. Maybe it’s in your own family - evangelizing your own children. Certainly, it is that. It’s in the circle of your influence - extended family, and neighbors, and coworkers, at school, various organizations of which you were a part.

Sociologists tell us that the average person has somewhere between 150 and 290 acquaintances. Let me ask you. Of the circle within your sphere of influence, how many of those people have you ever tried to share the gospel with? How many have you tried to even engage in a conversation about spiritual things? Or let me even put it like this: how many of those people even know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Folks, this is our priority - not in the end for the people themselves even, but for the glory of God. This is what we’re here to do. Think about it like this: in heaven our worship will be perfect. What we’re doing this morning, we will do perfectly in God’s presence. Our understanding of biblical truth will be crystal clear. In heaven, we will offer our prayers to God face to face. Our fellowship will be richer. Our service will be untainted by wrong motives and will be wholehearted. We will have nothing but perfect

love for God and for each other. And our characters will resemble the moral character of Jesus Christ. Everything we do here, we will do better in heaven.

So, why does God keep us here? Why aren’t we transported to heaven the moment we are saved? Because there’s one thing we do here that we can never do in heaven, and that is, to share the message of the gospel. Because, like our Lord Himself and like His apostles and like those 500 believers gathered on that mountain in Galilee, we have been left here on a mission. And that mission is to share the gospel with the goal of making disciples of Jesus Christ. That is why you are here, that’s why I’m here - to the glory of God.

In one of his earliest books, Max Lucado included a parable about candles that don’t want to leave the storage room. He entitled the chapter “Light of the Storage Closet”. When the electricity goes out and his home is shrouded in darkness, as he tells the parable, Max goes into the storage closet to get some candles. But none of the candles in the storage closet want to leave, for various reasons. The first candle explains that he can’t leave the closet yet because he needs more preparation. He says, “Listen, I’ve decided I need to research this job of light- giving, so I won’t go out and make a bunch of mistakes. I just finished a book on wind resistance. I’m in the middle of a great tape series on wick buildup and conservation, and I’m reading the new bestseller on flame display.” The second candle also refused, said it couldn’t go out into the darkness because it was just too busy studying the importance of light. The third responded that she first needed to get her life together. So, she couldn’t go out of the storage closet either. And the final candle had the lamest excuse of all - “I’d like to help light the house, but lighting is just not my gift. I’m a singer. I sing to other candles and encourage them to burn more brightly.” Max finishes that chapter like this: “So, I stuck my hands in my pocket and walked back out into the darkness. I bumped my knee on the same freezer. Then I bumped into my wife. “Where are those candles?”, she asks. “They don’t - they won’t work.” “Where did you buy those candles anyway?” The wife replies, “Oh, they’re church candles. Remember the church that closed down across town? I bought them there.” Max ends the chapter with the words: “I understood.”

Let me ask you this morning. For you, is this passage the Great Commission or is it the Great Omission?

Let’s pray together.

Our Father, forgive us for being so distracted with our own temporary existence here that we have ignored our Lord’s Commission, that we have ignored Your great mission in the world which is to make disciples for Your Son who will forever bring Him glory. Father, I pray that you would convict our hearts. Lord, for those who are already actively engaged in the mission, I pray that you would encourage them with this passage to excel still more. But Father, sadly, there are many sitting here this morning, whose consciences are seriously rebuked by our Lord’s command in this passage. Father don’t let them, having seen themselves in the mirror of the Word, leave and forget what kind of person they are. Father, may they leave with a passion and resolve to change, to obey. Lord, give them wisdom and direction and help as they seek to obey this command. Help us to encourage them as well. And Father may we all together speak the gospel into the lives of the people you give us contact with. And Father there were some here this morning whom You intend to use, not here, but around the world. I pray that You would direct their hearts, challenge them, give them no peace until they are confident that that is what You have given them to do, for the glory of Your great name. And finally, Father, I pray for the person here this morning who’s never become a disciple of Jesus Christ, who’s played around the edges of the church and professed Christ, but they don’t keep all that He has commanded.

They don’t even try. Father, help them to see the bankruptcy of their condition and help this to be the day when they become genuine followers of Jesus Christ. For it’s in His name we pray, Amen!