The Command of Missions Part Two "The Command of the Great Commission"

The Great Commission as the Command of Missions

The command of missions part two will be again in the Great Commission passage, and we are in a section that is really the command of the Great Commission. So the command of missions part two, the command of the Great Commission.

And so look with me at Matthew chapter 28 as we again read verses 16 through 20, and this is what it says. It says,. But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 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 keep all that I commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. The command of the Great Commission. In his small book, What is the Great Commission? R .C. Sproul explains the biblical basis for missions.

Dr. Sproul said this,. Even a cursory reading of the scriptures indicates that Jesus saw his mission and calling as that which fulfills the desire of the Father. His food and drink were to do the will of the Father.

Jesus came into the world because he was sent into the world by the Father. The biblical basis for missions begins with God's work of sending his Son for our redemption. Nearly every local church has a portion of its budget designated for the task of missions.

What is mission? And what is the principal foundation for the mission of the church? We live in a time where in the secular culture and many ecclesiastical authorities dismissed the whole concept of world missions.

Some claim that the time of the world missionary activity is over. One argument offered for this is that missions are not only unnecessary, but are a destructive force unleashed upon the world. The charge is that world missions have been nothing more than a platform for imperialism and for the exploitation of the underdeveloped nations by the industrialized nations of the world.

There is also the sociological consideration that civilization is a influence upon innocent natives who would have greater well-being and peace without the problems of the western world that are inevitably carried in the carpet bags of the missionary.

And I love what R .C. says right here. He says, this is pure nonsense. This is pure nonsense, of course, and not supported by evidence. Modern missions provide valuable medical, educational, agricultural resources in addition to the most important, the work of preaching the gospel.

So praise God for missions. And we need to bow under the authority of the Word of God and think about the biblical basis of missions, the command of the Great Commission. The beauty of missions is the wonderful blessing of answering the call of the Great Commission given to us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is a matter of life and death. This is a matter of life and death. I once heard an illustration on the urgency of missions, the urgency of the life and death element that people don't know Christ as their Savior.

So this is an illustration that I've once read. It's about a young woman, a young Hindu woman in India stood on the beach near the Ganges River, holding her tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began slowly walking toward the river's edge.

She stepped into the water, silently making her way out until she was about waist deep, the water gently lapping at the sleeping baby's feet. She stood there for a long time, holding the child tightly as she stared out across the river.

Then all of a sudden, in one quick movement, she threw the six-month-old baby into the water where it drowned. She threw her own baby to his watery death. A Christian missionary often witnessed among the crowds who gathered at the Ganges River.

It was he who came upon the young Hindu mother that day, kneeling in the sand, crying uncontrollably and beating her chest. With compassion, he knelt down next to her and asked her what was wrong. Through her sobs, she told him, the problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart.

So I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges, my firstborn son. The missionary's heart ached for the desperate woman. As she wept, he gently began to tell her about the love of Jesus and that through him her sins could be forgiven.

She looked at him strangely. I have never heard this before, she replied through her tears. Why couldn't you have come 30 minutes earlier? If you had come earlier, my child would not have had to die. Each year, millions of people come to the holy Indian city of Hardwar to bathe in the river Ganges.

These multitudes come believing this Hindu ritual will wash their sins away. For many people like the young mother, missionaries are arriving too late, simply because there aren't enough of these faithful brothers and sisters on the mission field.

It is important to evangelize locally, to save some from the fire. It is also important to go beyond our national borders and to reach those who have never heard. The great commission passage in Matthew explains the doctrine of the command of missions in a crystal clear way, so that you can see the biblical basis for evangelizing locally and supporting missions globally.

Three instructive and straightforward reasons for missions. Number one, the context. We looked at that last week in verses 16 and 17. Number two, the command in verses 18 and 19. And number three, the clarification in verse 20.

Three instructive and straightforward reasons for missions. Today we'll look at number two, the command in verses 18 and 19. By way of review, let's think about the context. In verse 16, the disciples went to Galilee because that is where Jesus told them to meet.

Verse 10 of chapter 28 clearly explains that Jesus had given specific directions on where to meet up with them. The context of the resurrection of Jesus is the fuel for living out the command. So if we remove the context of the resurrection, the weight of the command is weakened.

It's not understood correctly. In verse 17, it says that the disciples worshiped him, but some doubted too. The Greek word for worship literally means to fall down and worship, to prostrate oneself before, or to give reverence to.

Specifically, the risen Lord is especially the object of the worship. However, eyewitness does not equal belief. Jesus performed miracles in the presence of many who witnessed the signs he did. They witnessed the wonders and they still didn't believe.

So although evidence exists in the facts of history, many still doubt. The facts of history and physical evidence are nice regarding the resurrection, but if you don't believe the internal testimony of the word of God, then you won't believe.

There is a connection to genuine salvation and belief that the resurrection took place. There is also a connection to our belief and understanding of the resurrection, to our witnessing, to sharing the gospel, the witnessing for the risen Christ.

So three instructive and straightforward reasons for missions. Number one, the context of the resurrection. The context of the resurrection provides a pure and powerful motivation to obey the command of the Great Commission.

Christ's Authority in Heaven and on Earth

And then number two, the command itself, verses 18 and 19. Verse 18 says this, and Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. One important aspect of verse 18 we often just read over is the Greek word translated came up.

It has two general meanings in the original. It either means to move forward or to apply oneself to something. Obviously here it is conveying the idea of forward movement or to come to. And the reason I point this out is the nuance of the Greek word.

It means physical movement to go or to approach, specifically of approach to or entry into a deity's presence. So this is a very specific word that Matthew, that Levi used. Some hold that it may convey the forensic idea to appear in court.

So this little phrase came up is relaying that the disciples had entered the physical presence of God, a physical flesh and bone presence of the resurrected Christ in all his glory, in the transformed body of his glory.

And amazingly, Jesus came up to them. As we enter this Christmas season, we can reflect on the idea of Emmanuel, God with us. God came to us. We didn't need to seek after God. We did not seek after God.

He sought us out. And even just thinking about that illustration, what a heartbreaking illustration. But there's something that should stick out to us here. We didn't go to God. God came to us. The Lord Jesus seeks us out.

The Lord Jesus sought that young woman out by sending a Christian missionary to proclaim the good news to her. And this is exclusive to Christ. There is no other world religion where God comes to you.

God does the work of saving you. This is something that is special to our Lord and Savior, to the only true God, Jesus Christ. He rescued us. And here we get to visualize this amazing sight of the physical, perfect presence of Jesus after his resurrection, still pursuing, still helping, still rescuing.

And then the final words of his glorious earthly ministry, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So what does it mean that Jesus has all authority? Well, obviously we understand that Jesus is God.

God has all authority. The reformer John Calvin said this about the authority of the Christ. So here's John Calvin, the reformer. I like what he said here. Start quote. He says, he expressly calls himself the Lord and King of heaven and earth because by constraining men to obey him in the preaching of the gospel, he establishes his throne on the earth.

And by regenerating his people to a new life and inviting them to the hope of salvation, he opens heaven to admit to a blessed immortality with angels, those who formerly had not only crawled on the world, but had been plunged into the abyss of death.

Let us remember that what Christ possessed in his own right was given to him by the father in our flesh, or to express it more clearly, in the person of the mediator. For he does not lay claim to the eternal power with which he has endued before the creation of the world, but to that which he has now received by being appointed to be the judge of the world.

No, more. It ought to be remarked that his authority was not fully known until he rose from the dead. For then only did he come forth adorned with the emblems of supreme king. And though in other passage, the sitting at the right hand of God is placed after the ascension to heaven, as later in the order of time, yet as the resurrection and the ascension to heaven are closely connected with each other, with good reason does Christ now speak of his power in such magnificent terms.

I thought that was a really helpful quote. But what does the scripture say about Jesus, the son of God, having authority? Jesus prefaced the command with this claim of authority. We would do well to pause and contemplate his statement here.

To best understand this claim, we can simply start back in the Old Testament. The prophet Daniel said this in chapter 7. He said, as my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.

He approached the ancient one and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him.

His rule is eternal. It will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed. Of course, we know that Jesus is the son of man. This phrase, son of man, was used 82 times in the New Testament and exclusively refers to Jesus of Nazareth.

This is the primary title Jesus used when referring to himself, the son of man. One commentator pointed this out in Daniel. The Messiah, Christ, is meant. He often designated himself by this phrase. The clouds of heaven are seen again in the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here, he is distinct from the Ancient of Days or the Eternal One, the Father, who will coronate him for the kingdom. The picture of old age is not that of being feeble. Rather, it highlights eternality and divine wisdom to judge.

These distinctions are earthly and speak of the promise of an earthly kingdom ruled by Christ that merges into the eternal kingdom. In his earthly ministry, Jesus connected himself to Daniel's prophecy without any reservation, without any doubt, and without any pretense.

Some examples from the various eyewitness accounts of the gospels. We'll look at one from each gospel. Matthew 12. Anyone who speaks against the son of man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.

How about Mark chapter 10? One of the, just such a verse. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life a ransom for many. Or how about Luke chapter 12? I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the son of man will also acknowledge in the presence of God's angels.

And finally from John, John chapter 1. Then he said, I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the son of man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.

Clearly, Jesus is the son of man referred to by Daniel. But moving out of the Old Testament and listening to what Jesus says in the New Testament about his authority given to him is helpful. Let's just listen to what Jesus says, as well as what the apostles also stated on the subject of the authority of Christ.

In Jesus's prayer of thanksgiving, my father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the son except the father, no one truly knows the father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him.

That's Matthew chapter 11. Jesus before the high priests at his trial, Jesus replied, you have said it and in the future you will see the son of man seated in the place of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Or how about Paul warning about the dangers of criticizing other Christians? Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, to be lord of both the living and of the dead. Romans 14. Paul's prayer for spiritual wisdom.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else, not only in this world but also in the world to come.

God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church, for the benefit of the redeemed sinners saved by the grace of God that are assembled both universally in the world and then locally in a local congregation.

We'll look at a few more. How about Paul explaining Christ's attitude and his humanity? Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Of course from Philippians chapter 2. Paul speaking on our unity in Christ and being alive with Christ, so you also are complete through your union with Christ who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Colossians 2. Peter talking about Christians suffering for doing good. Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

God the Father gave Jesus the authority over heaven and earth. Jesus himself declared his authority and warned about hell and do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

On the basis of that authority, on the basis of that authority as judge Jesus gave the command of the great commission to make more disciples as they preached, baptized, and taught. With this very same authority today Jesus still commands you to share the good news.

It's the same authority. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. He commands us to share the good news and to make converts and to make the new converts disciples for his kingdom, for the kingdom of God.

As Paul says in Colossians, God the Father will rescue his children out of the domain of darkness. God does this. He rescues us from the domain of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of the son of his love.

We are to simply obey the command and God will take care of the rest. And Matthew moves on in verse 19. He says, go therefore, this is Christ, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As we see in this verse, the concept of the triune God or the Trinity comes directly from Jesus himself. He said specifically in the name of the Father, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It does clearly connect the three-in-one nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the role of salvation for the redeemed sinner. The disciples were to baptize converts because baptism unites the regenerated sinner with Jesus.

It symbolizes their death to sin and their resurrection to new life. So baptism symbolizes submission to Christ. We submit to him in this act of public profession as the first act of obedience for the new believer.

Baptism is primarily a symbol of a Christian union with Christ. It signifies the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing which comes through Christ alone by faith. By faith alone, the consequences of baptism is not salvation, that comes through faith.

Baptism symbolizes that the Christian has died to self and is alive with Christ. It reflects our submission to Christ and identification with him. Going under the water symbolizes being united with Christ in his death and his burial.

And coming up out of the water symbolizes a Christian's resurrection with Christ to a newness of life, being born again. For us as regenerated believers, baptism is an important public confession in Christ.

There's two main takeaways from verse 19. First, Jesus's words affirm the reality of the Trinity. And second, baptism symbolizes submission to Christ, a willingness to live God's way and identification with God's covenant people.

The Church's Mission to the Nations

In answering the question, what is mission and what is the principal foundation for the mission of the church, R .C. Sproul concluded this in his book, What is the Great Commission? He said, it is God who institutes, sanctifies, and mandates the mission of the church.

The biblical basis for missions is the word of God spoken in divine authority. It is the mandate of Christ. Unfortunately, the number of missionaries in the field continues to decline because a significant portion of the church no longer believes that it's necessary to fulfill the mandate from Christ to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.

In Romans chapter 10, Paul raises a series of questions that speak directly to the matter of our responsibility. Having affirmed that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, he then asks, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? In other words, how are they to hear without someone going there? And how are they to preach or go unless they are sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. No one can call upon Christ to save them if they don't believe in him. Paul puts his finger on the challenge and the responsibility of the church to send, to send people so that people might hear about Christ.

And upon hearing, they might believe and be saved. When is the missionary mandate over? When it has been fulfilled and the mandate of Christ has been completed. If someone stands up in a church meeting and says that the day of mission is over, resist him with all of your might because that person is advocating nothing less than treason to the Lord of the church.

It is the church's duty to fulfill the great commission, to send people into all the world. That's what missions is all about. Three instructive and straightforward reasons for missions. Number one, the context.

And number two, the command. The command in the spoken mandate of the authority of the living Word of God rests on the divine authority of Jesus as Savior, Lord, and Judge over all creation. The command in the spoken mandate of the authority of the living Word of God rests on the divine authority of Jesus as Savior, Lord, and Judge over all creation.

And number three is the clarification. We'll look at verse 20, Lord willing, next Sunday. The Bible clearly teaches that God will judge sinners. God will judge sinners and evildoers. Hell is real. Hell is real.

The Bible tells us that in God's love for people, He sent the Son to die for our sin. Eternal salvation is real. The Bible records Jesus' earthly ministry. Even this in the first chapter of Mark. Now after John, referring to John the Baptist, had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled.

The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Just like his master Jesus, Paul preached the gospel. Him we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

That's Colossians chapter 1. Paul warned and gave instruction because Jesus warned and gave instruction. Was Jesus being unloving by calling people to repentance? Was Jesus being unloving by admonishing sinners to believe?

In other words, did Jesus warn people about hell? Yes. Yes, He did. Did Jesus declare that He would judge sinners and put them in hell? Yes. Yes, He did. Is Jesus a God of wrath? Yes. Yes, He is. Does Jesus desire to send people to hell?

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Who was hell made for? Let's think about it like that. Who was hell made for? A few clues here. Matthew 25. Then He will say to those on His left, apart from Me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Prepared for the devil and his angels. How about 2 Peter 2? For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.

Or how about Jude 6? And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.

Are unrepentant sinners going to hell? Yes. Yes, they are. Does Jesus desire to send people to hell? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think.

No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. Jesus is a Savior. He's the Savior of sinners. God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him.

For He has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man He has appointed. And He proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead. Acts 17. It is true that Jesus is God and that one of His attributes is wrath, yet we can't understand this without understanding God's love for sinners.

Jesus came to save sinners, not condemn sinners. Without Jesus, you will experience God's wrath. With Jesus, you will experience God's love. Have you ever considered God's love for you, even in your sin?

God loved you, even in your sin. In the context of repentant sinners and followers of God, we can see God's love for mankind. Just a few passages. Haven't I commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. God is with you. God is with you. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against you? God is for you. God is for you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to you.

God sees you. God sees you. And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. God hears you. God hears you. I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. God knows you.

God knows you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. God cares about you. God cares about you. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God loves you. God loves you. And that's displayed in the gospel, in the cross, in the shedding of His blood that we may be reconciled to God the Father. Repent and believe in the good news. Faith, just to believe that God's promises are true.

He died for your sins. He was buried and He was raised to new life. If you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you are saved. Repent and believe. There are people living in this world that have never heard the name Jesus.

That's what missions is all about. We must go and tell them the good news, that God cares for them and died for them, that they might live the promise of eternal salvation. We proclaim the judgment of God, but we proclaim the forgiveness of sins according to the love of the Son.

That's missions. The biblical basis for missions is the love of God displayed for sinners in the gospel. God is with you. God is for you. God sees you. God hears you. God knows you. God cares about you.

God loves you. The biblical basis for missions is the word of God spoken in divine authority. It is the mandate of Christ. Out of the love of God expressed in the gospel of His Son, we ought to have a desire for all people groups to win some, to snatch them out of the fire, every tongue and tribe, to know the Son, Jesus Christ.

Out of an expression of our gratitude and salvation and love for the God who saved us, we can rightly desire to fulfill the command of the Great Commission. The preacher, evangelist, and missionary Paul Washer said this on missions.

This is what Paul Washer said. He said, missions is very simple. There are only two ministries in missions. You're either called to go down into the well, or you're called to hold the rope for those that go down.

Either way, there should be scars on your hands. Where are your scars? What has it cost you to be a Christian? I feel that missions has lost its message, that we've become strategists and missiologists, and we have forgotten that first and foremost, we are theologians.

We are prophets, and that our tasks are not to do missions. Our task is to take the truth, God's truth revealed in God's word to the world. Rather than being pragmatic and doing what we think will work, we are to do what's right whether it works or not.

If you realize that absolutely everything in this temporal sphere is dust and rot, then you will begin to have a zeal for God, and when you have a zeal for God, you'll have a zeal for missions. The Great Commission passage in Matthew explains the doctrine of the command of missions in a crystal clear way, so that you can see the biblical basis for evangelizing locally and supporting missions globally.

Three instructive and straightforward reasons for missions. Number one, the context of the resurrection provides a pure and powerful motivation to obey the command of the Great Commission. And number two, the command in the spoken mandate of the authority of the living word of God rests on the divine authority of Jesus as Savior, Lord, and Judge over all creation.

And then finally, number three, the clarification. We'll look at Lord willing next Sunday. Let me pray for you. Heavenly Father, God, we are grateful for this command. You saved us and then you called us into action.

You didn't save us to put our faith on a shelf or hide it in the closet, but actually to go out and to tell people the good news. What you have done for us, the amazing sweet blessing of salvation that comes through belief in your son.

And so as we ponder our salvation and the mercy displayed in the gospel and the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus, God, we ask that you would give us opportunities to share our faith with those that don't know you.

And as we consider this topic of missions, God, help us to think biblically about what we do in missions, why we give our money to certain missionaries, what is the biblical basis for missions in that it is based on the word of God and it is a mandate from Christ, from our King.

And God, help us to think about that, that this is not an option. This is not one of several options, but a command from the King to his subjects to go and make disciples of all the nations. And so important for us to remember that we are commanded to teach them to keep all that you have commanded.

And so, God, we ask that you would help us in our lives as we seek to follow you, we seek to honor you and live a life of godliness. Enable us to do that by the power of your spirit that our lives would glorify you.

And as we behold the beauty of Christ, that we would display him through our living, through our words, our thoughts, and our actions. And that in your perfect timing, you would bring those who are far from you into our lives so that we can first fulfill this command here locally in the city of Laurel and in the surrounding community of Billings.

God, bring people into our lives and give us opportunities to minister the gospel to those that don't know you. And God, help us as we desire to support those abroad who are in foreign nations. God, that we would use our resources that you have given us to support them, that the gospel would be made known to all the nations through this little church here in Laurel.

Pray for your sovereign will and enablement in this endeavor, that we would, God, bring people to a saving knowledge of the Son. And it's in his name, in the name of our Lord and our Savior Jesus, that we pray.

Amen.