Matthew 28
I bring you greetings from your
brothers and sisters at Messiah’s Reformed Fellowship in New York
City, and I would encourage and invite all of you to come and
pay a visit to us in New York City. We would love to host you
and show you around the town. And the award is at work. even
in places like New York City. Though you may doubt that. Please turn in your Bibles, if
you would, to Matthew chapter 28. Though I am sure that most,
if not all, of us are familiar with the words of the Great Commission,
I trust that God will bring new life forth from his word for
us today. And please keep your Bibles open.
I’m going to be referring to a number of passages through
the course of the sermon, and I certainly want you to see that
what I am conveying to you is, in fact, what the Bible teaches
and not my own thoughts or comments. So, I hear now the Word of God. Now the eleven disciples went
to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus
came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always
to the end of the age. I have six points for the sermon
this morning. It’s a good reform sermon, six
points. First of all, the comprehensive character of the Great Commission.
Secondly, the constitution of the Great Commission. What is
it that actually constitutes the Great Commission? Thirdly, the complications with
why we do not see the Great Commission being fulfilled in our day. And
then by way of correctives, our loving Lord Jesus provides correctives
here in the text. One, by way of context. Secondly,
by way of the confidence he supplies If Christianity in the future
depended upon what Covenant Presbyterian Church did, would there be Christianity
in the next generation? If Christianity depended upon
what you, Covenant Presbyterian Church, did in the next generation,
Would there be Christianity in the next generation? You see,
that question puts you in the sandals of the disciples as Jesus
speaks to them here. Think of it, if you will. There
are no seminaries. There are no Christian schools.
There are no Christian institutions. There are no Christian denominations.
You are all there is. And Jesus commissions you to
make disciples of all the nations. You see, brothers and sisters,
you need to take ownership of the Great Commission as if you
were the only ones alive. Jesus Christ here sets forth
an obligation, not an option, for His Church. My purpose this
morning is to examine the Great Commission with you, and to encourage
and challenge you to practice it. So first of all, the comprehensive
character of the Great Commission. Look at the text and note the
universal language which Jesus uses. All authority in heaven
and on earth. Go and make disciples of all
nations. teaching them to obey all that
I have commanded you, and I am with you always unto the end
of the age. The Great Commission aims at
the comprehensive application of Christ over men through conversion. The Great Commission aims at
the comprehensive application of Christ’s authority over men
through conversion. Jesus Christ here claims unlimited
authority in every realm and in every sphere, in heaven and
on earth. Abraham Kuyper said, there is
not one square inch of all creation that does not have indelibly
imprinted upon it by Jesus Christ, mine. It’s all his. John Calvin,
with respect to this text, said he, that is Jesus, had to hold
supreme and truly divine power of command to declare that eternal
life was promised in his name, that the whole globe was held
under his sway, and that a doctrine was published which would subdue
all high seeking and bring the whole human race to humility.
Briefly, they were to lead all nations into the obedience of
faith by publishing the gospel everywhere, and that they should
seal and certify their teaching by the mark of the gospel. And
that’s exactly what Jesus is communicating to you and me here. You may recall that, of course,
we’re at the end of the gospel of Matthew, where he says, go
and make disciples of all nations. But the beginning of the gospel,
Matthew chapter one, verse one, tells us the genealogy of Jesus.
Matthew is a good Jew, preaching to a Jewish audience, lets them
know that this Jesus is the son of Abraham. And to any biblically
knowledgeable Jew, they would have immediately recognized the
promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, verse three. That
is that all nations would be blessed in his seed. And what
Matthew is communicating to you and me here is that Jesus is
the one through whom the promise to Abraham will be fulfilled
and all nations indeed will be blessed by Jesus Christ. The
comprehensive character of the Great Commission. But more pertinently
for us here assembled this morning, what constitutes the Great Commission? What actually is it that Jesus
is commissioning his church to do? What is it that he instructs
and expects you and me to do as those who are the recipients
of this commission? Now, in the history of looking
at the Great Commission, the focus and answer to that question
has been on the three main participles that we find in the text. If
you look at the text, you can see them. They’re going, all
right, baptizing, and teaching, okay? In the history of the church,
there have been churches that have ultimately fixed on one
of those terms, thinking that it is what constitutes the Great
Commission. There are churches that focus
on going. There are churches for whom evangelism
is the be-all and the end-all of the life of the church. It’s
the only thing that they’re to be engaged in. They’re to go
out and pluck brands from the fire, get lost souls into the
ark of the church, and get them saved. On the other hand, there
are those churches that focus on sacramental life of the church
or the liturgical life of the church. For them, baptizing,
the Lord’s Supper, liturgical emphasis in worship, smells and
bells and other things like that are what the church is to be
engaged in. And for them, that’s what they think constitutes the
Great Commission. Perhaps a little bit closer to home in reformed
and Presbyterian circles is the emphasis on the last participle,
teaching, doctrinal integrity. sound biblical exposition, confessional
fidelity. That’s what we’re to be about.
Now, all of those things being fine in and of themselves, none
of them are what constitutes the Great Commission. Look at
the text. The main verbal command in the
Great Commission, all right, is to make disciples, is to make
disciples. The other three participles,
going, baptizing, teaching, is how the church is to go about
making disciples. You got it? Alright? So the main
verbal command is to make disciples, and the other three are how we
are to make disciples. William Hendrickson, a faithful
commentator, now gone to be with the Lord, says of this text,
the term make disciples places somewhat more stress on the fact
that the mind as well as the heart and will must be one for
God. In other words, it is designed
to win the obedience and all of life of the disciple. So what is discipling? Discipling
is turning people from rebellion against God. They’re going this
way disregarding God and disobeying God and turning them to a faithful
commitment to follow the Lord and live by every word that comes
from his mouth. That’s what it means to make
a disciple. All right, we are to make disciples. That’s what the Great Commission
is and notice significantly Far too many Christians and churches
think, and you hear this in ministries, whether they’re missionary or
evangelistic ministries, oh, we had a campaign and there were
100 decisions for Christ. Well, more on that later, but
that’s not the Great Commission. We’re to make disciples, not
decisions. And we do it by going, by baptizing,
and by teaching. We are to gain the obedience
in all of life from a convert to Jesus Christ. Now, look with
me, if you will, at the three means by which Jesus says we’re
to make disciples. We’re to make them first by going. Now, if you’re a very good student
of the Bible, and truly, all right, not insulting you in any
way, you would have to be a very good student of the Bible to
know that what Jesus here says in instructing his church to
be a going people is actually a radical reversal from how Jesus
told his Old Testament people to relate to the nations round
about them. And that you might understand
what I’m saying, look with me, if you will, at Deuteronomy chapter
four. Look at Deuteronomy chapter four. Deuteronomy 4, verse 1, God is
talking to Israel and telling them how they are to relate to
the nations around about them. Verse 1, And now, O Israel, listen
to the statutes and rules that I am teaching you, and do them,
that you may live, go in, and take possession of the land the
Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Skip down to verse
5. I have taught you statutes and rules as the Lord my God
commanded me that you should do them in the land that you’re
entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them for
that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight
of the peoples, the goyim, the nations, who when they hear all
these statutes will say, surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people. For what great nation is there
that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us,
whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation is there
that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that
I set before you today? So what is God telling His people,
how are they to relate to the nations around about them? He
says, I want you to be geographically and ethnically isolated and segregated
from all the other nations. And I want you to live according
to every word that proceeds from my mouth. I want you to walk
in my statutes. I need you to follow and obey
my precepts. And like a moth drawn to a flame,
that will draw the attention of the people around you, and
they will come.” Notice then what Jesus says in
Matthew chapter 28. You’re no longer to be a magnetic
people that draw people to you, ethnically isolated, geographically
segregated from the nations around about you. Rather, you’re to
be a going people. You’re to go to the nations and
make them disciples, make them my disciples. You’re to be a
going people, radical reversal of how God tells his people they
are to relate to the nations around about them. Cornelius
Van Til said, the antithesis, the difference between believers
and unbelievers, is not metaphysical, where you live, rather it’s ethical,
how you live. Christians are to be in the world,
but not of the world. Yes, we’re to be ethically, morally
different than the world round about us. But we are no longer
to be segregated, we’re no longer to be isolated, we’re no longer
to be separated that way as they were in the Old Testament. No,
now we’re to be going to the nations and making them disciples. Secondly, Jesus says you’re to
make disciples by going and by baptizing. Very interesting. One of the reasons why we’re
to make disciples and not decisions, all right, is that people are
to be baptized into a local Christian church. That is the end of evangelism,
all right? Ultimately, the end of evangelism
is to bring God glory, all right? But the work of evangelism is
not complete unless and until somebody not only makes a decision,
not only is converted, not only has their life changed, but is
actually baptized into membership in a local church. Look at 1
Corinthians chapter 12. Again, that you can see this
is in fact the teaching of scripture, not just my personal opinion. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and
verse 13. Verse 12 says, for just as the
body is one and has many members, all the members of the body,
though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one
spirit, we are all baptized into one body. In the book of Acts,
when people believe, Luke reports for us that they were added to
the church. Why do I mention this and emphasize
this? Again, because so much poor practice when it comes to
evangelism and missions does not include the local church.
It does not include baptizing someone into a local church.
People get baptized, if they get baptized at all, right? People
get baptized into nothingness. Many people I run into on the
streets of New York and ask them, oh, and you don’t talk in conversation,
are you a Christian? Yeah, I’m a Christian. Where
do you go to church? Ah, I don’t go to church. You mean you’re not a member of a
church? No, no. You’re a Christian, but you’re
not a member of a church? Yeah. No, no. Something wrong with
this picture. Now, I don’t wanna, I use this
for illustrative purposes only, all right? I’m not disparaging
or deprecating the greatness of the man who was Billy Graham.
All right? I believe he was a great Christian.
There is much to be commended to Billy Graham and to the Billy
Graham Evangelistic Association. But the institutionalization
of the invitation system used in Billy Graham crusades has
led many people into false professions of faith. Now, before you jump
down my throat here, I say this from personal experience. You
may know that the last Billy Graham crusade was held in New
York City a number of years ago. We wanted to be a church that
they sent people who made decisions, right professions, We contacted them. We got on
every Sunday when we finished worship, we ran out of prayer
meeting for the crusade. We had people who volunteered
for the crusade. We had people who worked at the
meetings of the crusade, wheeling people in wheelchairs down to
perform. And we were a church that received
follow-ups from the crusade of those who had made professions
of faith in Jesus Christ. I forget exactly how many there
were. It was quite a number of years ago, but there were probably
at least 12. I contacted each one of those
12 people in every way that I knew how. I called them. I wrote them
either letters or emails or both. And where I had opportunity,
I would go and try to actually meet them face to face. Do you
know that not one of those 12 people who professed to believe
in Jesus Christ at the end of an invitation was interested
in any way in coming to church? Not one. Now, of course, I don’t
know their hearts. I don’t know their eternal destinies.
And again, please, I’m not saying this to disparage anyone in particular,
simply illustrating. We’re to make disciples, not
decisions. And discipling includes being baptized into a local Christian
church. And I say this, and I say this
somewhat provocatively, but intentionally from experience. Unless and until
someone is baptized into a local Christian church, be considered
a Christian. Are there exceptions? Of course
there are exceptions. I’ve run into many exceptions.
But the exception is not the norm. And in North American evangelical
Christianity today, it is the norm. And it’s wrong. We’re to make disciples by going
and by baptizing. Thirdly, we’re to make disciples
by going, baptizing, and teaching. It’s very interesting that the
Great Commission has an educational component. We’re to teach people,
right? Now, I’m speaking to an associate
reform Presbyterian congregation, and I’m sure that you’re well Andre said you attended this
congregation for a number of years, and I know your denomination
is a very faithful denomination with respect to teaching. But
let me ask you this question. Maybe turn it on its head. What
are you doing with all that teaching? Faithful biblical preaching,
expository preaching, confessional integrity, Confessional fidelity
to the Reformed creeds and confessions. What are you doing with all that
teaching? R.B. Kuyper in his book, The Glorious
Body of Christ, has a magnificent illustration. I commend that
book to you. It’s a magnificent book on the church. In it he
has an illustration related to the geography of Israel. My wife
and I were there in 1994. We were pleased to go on a trip
to Israel and if you know anything about the geography of Israel
you know that in the north you have the Sea of Galilee. Then
you have the Jordan River which runs the length of the nation
of Israel and down south in the Well, the Dead Sea. So in the north, the Sea of Galilee
is kind of like the vacation resort of Israel. It’s where
people go for vacation. It’s beautiful. It’s lush. It’s
at the foot of the mountains of Lebanon and Syria. And it’s a recreational area. And the Sea of Galilee is magnificent. Its water is crystal clear, it’s
refreshing, you jump in, it’s just delightful, enjoyable, one
thing or the other. It feeds, it’s fed by the mountains,
the snow is melting on the mountains of Lebanon. The snow melts, comes
down, and it makes that Sea of Galilee just beautiful, refreshing,
delightful. And of course, having been fed,
it feeds the Jordan River. The Jordan River goes all the
way down and empties into the Dead Sea down in the desert in
the south of Israel. Now, I remember as we were anticipating
going to Israel, everybody was so excited about the Dead Sea. We were told, oh, the Dead Sea
is where all people take mud baths because of the health benefits
of the Dead Sea waters, and they’re so salty you can float in the
Dead Sea. You’ll never be able to sink. It’s so salty. All of
these, there are all these high rise hotels on the shore of the
Dead Sea. It’s such a tourist destination because of the water
and the mud and one thing or the other. I got there. I went into the water. I tiptoed
into the water. It was slimy. Sea gallery is fed by milking
stoves. It’s refreshing, it’s delightful,
it’s beautiful, it’s glorious. The Dead Sea is fed, but it doesn’t
feed anyone. What are you doing with all your
teaching? You see, you’re not meant to
be a cultist, You must use that teaching to
reach others and convey and communicate that teaching to them. You’re to use that teaching for
the benefit of others. So we make disciples by going,
by baptizing, and by teaching. What are the complications with
why we do not see the gospel or the Great Commission being
fulfilled in our midst? Well, there are a number of complications.
I won’t take the time to go through all of them extensively, but
I do at least want to mention some. There are certainly cultural
complications. And by that, I don’t just mean
North and South culture, but socioeconomic culture. We think
that people somehow have to integrate into our own level of socioeconomic
status before they can be integrated into the church. That’s just
not right. The gospel is for all people,
of all stripes, of all kinds. We can’t let cultural barriers
keep people from Jesus Christ. Of course, there are theological
I mentioned one during Sunday school. For those of you who
weren’t here, in Reformed circles, we emphasis the sovereignty of
God in salvation. And that’s certainly true. It
is God who saves. One man sows and other waters,
but God has to give the growth. God is the sovereign initiator
of salvation. As we read in numerous places
of Scripture, salvation is of the Lord. Undoubtedly true. And
yet what many Reformed Christians do with that teaching is say,
If God is sovereign in salvation, then I don’t have to evangelize.
You know the story of Matthew Henry? He went to the Missionary
Society in London, and he had a map of the world up on the
thing, and he pleaded with his audience, the Missionary Society,
these nations, these nations, they’re all without Christ! The
head of the Missionary Society stood up and said, dear boy,
sit down, if God wants those nations You know what that is? That’s
the language of theological ignorance. God not only ordains the ends
in salvation, God ordains the means to those ends, some of
which are prayer and evangelism. So we can’t use theology as an
excuse. But perhaps the most common one
I experience, and I don’t know if it’s true in this church,
but I’m gonna emphasize it, is that we do missions by proxy.
That is, we pay and we pray for somebody else to do it. Or we
leave it to the clergy. Eh, we have a pastor, that’s
his job. Uh-uh, uh-uh. Look at Ephesians
chapter four. Look at Ephesians chapter four. It’s particularly instructive. Ephesians chapter 4 is talking
about the ascension of Jesus Christ, where he returns to heaven
and he is crowned with honor and authority. It’s why he says
all authority in heaven and earth is forgiven to me. He is declared
the king of kings and the lord of lords. And he receives that. And it’s talking about what’s
a consequence of that. In verse 11, it says he gave
the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and shepherd teachers.
to equip the saints for the work of ministry. You see, a pastor’s job is not
to be the one who’s out evangelizing and bringing people into the
church. His job is to equip you to do that. You are to be doing
that. And this is sadly, lamentably,
an omission in so much of the contemporary Christian church. His people, the person in the
pew, is not doing evangelism. When Paul says, that’s what Christ
has ascended and sent pastor-teachers to do, is to equip you to do
the work of ministry. The Heidelberg Catechism, which
Pastor referenced earlier, has a couple of questions on this,
which are very significant. You can look it up when you get
the hymnals from the other room. meaning anointed, all right?
And its answer is somewhat long. I’ll shorten it for you. It says,
because he has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be prophet,
priest, and king. Not much to disagree with that,
I’m sure. But in its inimitable fashion,
the Hatterberg Catechism is not content just to leave doctrine
up here, abstract, hypothetical. No, it brings it right down to
where the rubber hits the road in the very next question. It
says, but why are you called a Christian? And again, long
answer, but briefly, it says, because I share in his anointing
to be prophet, priest, and king. Now, this is not Murphy, this
is not some weirdo from New York who’s come to adjure you to something. How does our catechism, how does
it define a Christian? It defines a Christian as having
a prophetic responsibility. A silent Christian is an oxymoron. A non-witnessing Christian is
a contradiction in terms. It’s something less, if I can
put it that way, than what a Christian should be. Every Christian has
a prophetic responsibility. In the beginning of the third
section of the Heidelberg Catechism, you might know, Sin, Salvation,
Service, right? It asks, if we’re saved by grace
and not by works, then why must we still do good works? Good
question. I refer you to the answer, it’s lengthy. But it
ends with this. So that by our good works, our
neighbors might be one to Christ. This is what Jesus says when
he says, you are salt and light, right? So that people may see
your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. No,
notice the balanced picture of the believer that’s presented
in Heidelberg Catechism, right? Prophetic responsibility, living
testimony, right? Word, deed. Lips, life. Say, do. Talk, walk. That’s what a Christian is. There
are two wings to the plane of what a Christian is, right? It’s
both and, not either or. of the Christian is presented
there. R.B. Kuyper in that book I mentioned
earlier, The Quarious Body of Christ, I really do commend it
to you, talks about this as the forgotten office of believer. Reform circles we put, and rightfully
so, we put proper emphasis on office. The office of elder,
the office of minister of the word, office of deacon, I’m not
sure about your particular ecclesiology there. But we’ve forgotten, R.B. Kuyper says, the office of believing. Every believer holds an office,
prophet, priest, and king. Every believer is to live in
such a way before a watching world that people are led to
glorify God by their conduct and behavior. You need both. You need to know why you live
the way that you do Why do you go to church on Sunday? Why don’t you drink and drug
on payday? Why aren’t you sleeping with
your boyfriend? Why this? Fill in the blank.
And the answer is the gospel. It’s because Christ loved me
and gave himself for me. And I want to love him and I
want to live for him. That’s why I do or don’t do the
things I do and don’t do. because the gospel has impacted
me, transformed me, made me new, and now I want to live for Jesus
Christ. For me to live is Christ, and
to die is Him. Amen. Well, Jesus is a loving Lord.
Don’t you just love Jesus? Amen. He doesn’t wound without
healing. He doesn’t correct without providing
corrective. And he provides correctives in
the text. Look back in Matthew 28. The first corrective that he
provides is the context. Is the context. Look at verse
17. When they saw him, they worshiped. Isn’t that interesting? Sometimes
these little phrases, right, that are in the text, we just
pass over so quickly, they don’t have an impact on us. It’s happened
to you, right? It’s happened to me. The Great Commission happens
in a context of worship. And the first corrective that
Jesus provides is worship. Where will you obtain the desire?
Where will you obtain the passion? Where will you obtain the interest
to go and tell people about God, about Christ, about forgiveness
of sins, about eternal life, about His holiness, His majesty,
His forgiveness, His love? Right here. Right here. Right
here in worship. That’s where you’ll get it. And
can I tell you, Pastor Rick, from Psalm 96 this morning, there
is an inherent reciprocal relationship between worship and evangelism
in the Bible. John Piper captured it well when
he said, missions exist because worship doesn’t. Let me say it
again. Missions exist because worship
doesn’t. There is an inherent reciprocal
relationship between worship and evangelism in the Bible.
Turn back to Psalm 96 that we passed or read earlier this morning,
Psalm 96. I don’t know that it was intentional
on his part, knowing what I was going to preach on or what, but
it was providential that that was read. You can see this here,
all right? So, oh, sing to the Lord a new
song. Sing to the Lord all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name. Worship what follows. Tell of his salvation from day
to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works
among all the peoples. Evangelism. Worship evangelism. Look at Psalm 105, just one more.
You can see it in any number of places, but Psalm 105. Oh, give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name. Worship. Next, make known his
deeds among the peoples. Evangelism. Next, sing to him,
sing praises to him. Worship. Next, tell of all his
wondrous works. Evangelism. Look at Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews
chapter 12. Now the author of Hebrews, as
you know as good Bible students, is addressing the Hebrew audience
who are tempted to go back to the shadows and the types of
the Old Covenant. And the author writes this word
of exhortation to discourage them from doing that and to press
on in faithfulness to Jesus Christ. Well, in Hebrews chapter 12,
verse 18, he begins to draw a sustained contrast between Israel at the
foot of Mount Sinai, all right? You might remember that that
was a worship assembly, right? Moses was sent to Pharaoh to
say, let my people know that they may worship me. When they
came to Mount Sinai, it was a worship assembly, all right? And now
the author of Hebrews is gonna draw a contrast. He says, you
have not come, right? to what may be touched, a blazing
fire, darkness, gloom, trumpet, sound of a trumpet, voice on
whose words made the hearers beg no further, message to be
spoken to them, Sinai, right? But, verse 22, you have come
to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, to innumerable angels and festival gathering. I much
prefer the NIV here. It says the thousands upon thousands
of angels in joyful assembly. By the way, Ladies, in First
Corinthians, that’s why it says a woman should have a symbol
of authority on her head. It’s not cultural. Read it later.
It says it’s because of the angels that are present in worship.
And do you get the point of what the author is saying here? He
says, you’re not coming to Mount Sinai for worship meeting. You’ve
come to heaven. You’ve come to heaven. To thousands
upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. Read on. What’s the
point? The point is when the call to
worship is is extended here on Sunday morning
and Sunday evening, you’re no longer in North Carolina. You’re
in heaven. You’re in the presence of the
risen and reigning Lord Jesus Christ. You’re in the presence
of thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. Do
you have any idea the importance and the significance of that?
Just in general, but most certainly for a man to worship. What did
we hear this morning in the call to worship? Grace, mercy, and
peace be unto you. What? I’m a filthy, rotten sinner that
in and of myself, my sin is a stench in the nostrils of God. He would
have nothing to do with me except to consign me to eternal horror
in hell. And instead he welcomes me and
says, grace, mercy, and peace there unto you. And then what
do we do? We confess our sins, Lord. I’ve
strayed to the right and to the left in thought, Lord. Indeed,
in the week that gone by, I confess my sins freely to you because
you have told me that if we confess our sins, your faithful and just
to forgive us our sins. afraid. I love you. I’ve forgiven
you. I embrace you. I love you. I will never leave or forsake
you. Be assured of my peace and my
pardon and my love. And then we come to the sermon.
I hope you know that Jesus is speaking. It’s no longer your
pastor or a visiting pastor the risen and reigning Lord Jesus
Christ comes to speak to you as his dearly loved people. And
he says, let me tell you how I want you to live. Let me tell
you how I want you to think. Let me tell you, don’t do this,
do this. Let me give you direction, set
you on the straight and narrow path. Let me tell you how much
I love you and how much I care for you and how much I long for
you to be with me wherever I am. The second Albedo confession. benediction. The Aaronic blessing is not what
you use here. The Aaronic benediction. God
says, as you depart from my presence, as you enter back into the world
in the week to come, I want you to know that you go with my blessing. And of course, you’re blessed
to be a blessing, to be a blessing, When I pronounce the congregation
in my home church, I pronounce the Aaronic Benediction, I say,
go with God’s blessing to be a blessing. And do you catch
the relationship? Worship should compel you to
evangelize, to go forth and to tell people, let me tell you
about this God. Let me tell you about the God
and Father. of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the God and Father
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you of his majesty.
Let me tell you of his holiness. Let me tell you of his purity.
Let me tell you of his love. Let me tell you of his forgiveness.
Let me tell you about this God that I’ve just spent time with.
And of course, evangelism is not just to tell people, but
to have them converted. and with purified lips to join
us standing shoulder to shoulder to glorify and enjoy the God
in whose image and likeness they are made. There’s a reciprocal
relationship between worship and evangelism. The second corrective, the word
paratheia. He knows our weakness, right?
Isn’t that a precious, The Lord remembers that we’re
blessed. And he supplies confidence for the task. Now almost since
the day of my conversion, I’ve been involved in evangelism and
in training and teaching evangelism over 40 years. And when I go around and teach
congregations like yours, maybe a weekend seminar, preaching
or whatever, you know, I hear people, all kinds of reasons
why they can’t do evangelism. But you know, I don’t know the
Bible. I wouldn’t know where to start.
I have not been to seminary. I have never attended an evangelism
seminar. I have not done… Do you hear
a recurring pronoun there? I, I, I, I, I, I, I. None of those things are bad. text. He provides his power and
his presence. He provides his power and his
presence. All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given unto me. Standing there before and with
them in his resurrection body was the very one who had just
conquered death itself. And he opened his mouth to them.
He declared that he had the authority necessary for their aid. His
very presence was an object, listen. He has the authority
to do the unthinkable. My power. I’m not sending you
forth in your own confidence. I’m not sending you forth in
your own abilities. I’m not sending, why, come on, I know your weaknesses.
My power. and my presence. I am with you
always to the end of the age. Literally, the word order here,
I with you, I am. I myself am with you. What are you afraid of? What
are you worried about? I myself his power, and his presence. Having declared his authority,
he now delegates it. It shows that what would otherwise
be absolutely impossible now becomes gloriously possible.
Yes, an assured reality to do the unthinkable. The only question
is, do you believe him? Do you believe him? Think of who he’s talking to.
He’s talking to this ragtag bunch of disciples. There they are
on the eastern end of the Mediterranean, right? Andre and Iain Brooklyn
would call them schlemiels and schlemazels. They weren’t much. There they are, they’re on the
eastern end of the Mediterranean. The Roman Empire has just crucified
their ruler. The religious authorities handed
him over. And Jesus said, they’re going
to kick you out of the synagogue and think they’re serving God
by doing it. And they’re going to bring you before kings and
rulers, but you testify about me. And Jesus says, You see Greece? You see Rome? Go and make disciples of all
those nations. Can I be transparent with you? If
I had been standing there and Jesus said that to me, you know
what I would have said? At least in my heart. Wouldn’t you just love to have
an operating manual of how these guys who heard these words actually
did it? Wouldn’t you love to have that
operating? How did they do it, right? We
have that in the book of Acts. A Holy Spirit-inspired record
of how these guys took the gospel to the nations. From the most
sacred city, Jerusalem, in Acts 1, to the most secular city, About 17 cities in between, we
see how the early church put into practice the Great Commission.
And it was a pattern of urban missions. 17 cities between Jerusalem and
Rome. Why? Because they’re strategic centers,
cultural centers. It’s where Paul always went. Come to New York. I like to say
to the congregation I serve, you can fulfill the Great Commission
in New York City without ever leaving New York City. Because
God has brought all the nations to our doorstep. It’s an amazing
opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission. But don’t be so quick
to jump on a plane and come to New York. Because in Acts chapter
one, verse eight, Jesus says, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, and the outermost parts of the earth. And that’s
one of the outlines for the book of Acts, right? What’s the point,
though? Jesus says, begin at Jerusalem. Begin at Jerusalem. Begin where
you live, work, study, and play. Where is it that you live, work,
study, and play here in North Carolina? I’d love to have you
come to New York, but Jesus says, start where you are. Start where
you are. You go through that door, you’re
entering the mission field. Here in North Carolina. So, if the future of Christianity
depended upon covenant Presbyterian church in the next generation,
Would there be Christianity in the next generation? Let’s pray. Certainly, no greater Shemils
or Shemazels than the apostles on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean
so many hundreds of years ago. We pray that you would work in
and through us when and where and how you will to bring men
and women, boys and girls to know Jesus Christ, whom to know
is eternal life. We ask that you would