Together We Evangelize (1) – A Fresh Look at the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20)
by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
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The Church has already determined its direction for the next five years with the following themes: In 2011, it is Together We Evangelize; 2012 – Together We Worship, 2013 – Together We Fellowship, 2014 – Together We Equip, 2015 – Together We Serve.
Let us begin with evangelism. This is our direction, our vision. The Church’s theme for this year is “The Gospel for Loved Ones, Grace for Everyone”. Our goal is that everyone determines to pray for, witness to, and lead three close friends or relatives to the Lord.
However there is one important matter we must remember and that is when we bring them into the Church, for at least a period of one year, we must show concern and take care of them. In this one year, we will become their baby-sitter. Sharing the gospel is very important but the follow-up work is just as important.
This is not simply my own opinion. The Lord Jesus commanded this of his disciples. Today, let us reflect on the meaning of the Great Commission.
Verse 18 is the authority of the Great Commission – ‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”‘ Verse 19 -20a is the substance of the Great Commission – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”; while verse 20b is the promise of the Great Commission – “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Great Commission can be seen as a three-layered sandwich. In the middle is the substance of the Great Commission, on top is the authority, and below is the promise. Let us have this three-layered sandwich.
I. The Authority of the Great Commission
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The Great Commission is an impossible mission. When Jesus died, the disciples were scattered and when Jesus rose from the dead, there were no more than 120 believers. They had the 11 disciples for their leaders, who were mostly fishermen from Galilee. This group of people had little or no education, inadequate know-how, status, identity, and power, yet Jesus wanted them to go and make disciples of all nations.
All nations refer to the nations in the whole world, not only Israel, but also China, England, America, Philippines. The disciples didn’t even know one word of English, or Chinese, how could they disciple the nations?
If we were to simply consider Israel, these 120 people couldn’t even tackle the religious leaders of that time. The scribes and the Pharisees had enough power to subdue them. In fact, verse 17 tells us, at that time, some of them still doubted, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”
We Chinese have a term for such a group – it translates to ragtag. Without any training, without a goal, without vision, a ragtag group like that would not be able to spread the Gospel and disciple the nations at all. Thus, the Great Commission is an impossible mission. But the Lord Jesus told them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go…” How could the disciples go? It is because the Lord Jesus has already given them the authority for fulfilling the Great Commission. What kind of authority was this?
Acts 1:8 clearly says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit gave the authority in heaven and earth to the disciples, so that they will have power to fulfil the Great Commission. O Church, may we see this truth clearly – without the Lord’s authority and power, on our own strength, the Great Commission will never be accomplished.
However, as long as we rely on the Lord’s authority and power, the Great Commission can be done. Two hundred years ago, a Christian missionary, Robert Morrison, sailed to China to preach the Gospel there. The captain of the ship he was sailing in laughed at him and said, “Do you think you can transform China, this nation with a 4000 year-old history? They had been worshipping idols for 4000 years, will they accept the Gospel?” Morrison replied “I can’t, but God can.” It has been 200 years since Morrison stepped onto China, now there are about 70 million believers inside the nation. Indeed, man cannot, but God can.
II. Substance of the Great Commission
Verse 19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Verse 20 “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This is the substance of the Great Commission. Simply said, it is to make all the nations become the Lord’s disciples. To fulfill this Great Commission , the Church must do three things: 1. Go 2. Baptize 3. Teach.
1. Go – the first thing we must do is to go. The church cannot forget the outside world and simply dwell within its own walls. A church that doesn’t share the Gospel is a dead church; it will become a quarreling church, because when we subsist only within our own walls, we will find fault with one another and attack each other.
A healthy church is definitely extroverted or focused outward. What is an extroverted church? Some people are very introverted, they do not talk to others, they live in their own world. This is called autism. The church must not be a spiritually autistic church, living only within its own four walls. A book entitled “Church Without Walls” tells us we must not be content with the existing situation, not limit the church, the church must break out of its four walls, go out and seek lost souls.
Matthew 18 speaks of the parable of the lost sheep. A man had 100 sheep, and he lost one. Jesus said, “…will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?” We may think how greedy; he is not content with his 99, he had to go find that missing one. Just like when we have 100 coins, and lost one while in the washroom. Would you put your hands into the toilet water to retrieve that one coin? That would seem miserly, doesn’t it? But Jesus concluded the parable by saying, “Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Brothers and sisters, this is not the question of greed or contentment, this is a matter of love. The Heavenly Father loves every lost soul just like a father loves each child. Jesus said “Go…”
2. Baptize – Some Christians think they know their Bible very well, and they say that baptism is not very important, that we are not saved by going through baptism, we are saved by believing in the Lord Jesus. Actually they are only partially correct. We are saved by believing in the Lord Jesus, that is true. But baptism is very important because it is not only a declaration, it is a testimony of our being made separate from the world. As long as you refuse to be baptized, you are still unable to separate yourself from the world. Jesus told his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. When they come to the Lord, we must baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When a person comes to believing faith in the Lord Jesus, we must encourage him to get baptized.
3. Teach – The final goal of the Great Commission is to make the nations disciples of the Lord Jesus, that is, to become the Lord’s students. Jesus said, “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”. Do not be a wishy-washy Christian, we must know the Truth and obey the Truth.
In a Jewish Sabbatical School, a teacher of the Bible asked his student, “Freddie, who broke down the wall of Jericho?” Freddie became very afraid, and replied, “Don’t ask me, I did not do it!” That afternoon, this teacher made a call to Freddie’s mom to share the funny incident, “Guess what Freddie said when I asked him who broke down the wall of Jericho? He said don’t ask me, I didn’t do it.” Freddie’s mom said, “If Freddie said he didn’t do it, then he definitely didn’t do it.”
This teacher then told the rabbi who was in charge of the synagogue, of course the rabbi laughed hard. When evening came, in their meeting, the rabbi told the board members saying, “Let me tell you a story. Our teacher asked Freddie who broke down the wall of Jericho, and he replied that he didn’t do it. So his teacher told his mother, and his mother replied that if Freddie said he didn’t do it, he definitely didn’t do it.” Before the rabbi finished, the chairman of the board said, “Okey, okey, it’s not that big a problem. Just repair the wall of Jericho and send the bill to me. Let us continue our meeting.” If you do not find this funny, then it means you do not know your Bible too. May we know the Truth.
III. Promise of the Great Commission
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” In the original text, the word ‘behold’ appears before this statement – “Behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This promise is very precious in two ways:
1. Promise of the Lord’s Presence — When the Bible says the Lord is with us, this does not only mean he is our companion, it also means his power is with us. This is the truth found in chapter one of the Book of Joshua. When Joshua was about to succeed Moses, the Lord told him three times, “Be strong and courageous, do not fear.” And then the Lord said three times, “I will be with you.” The Lord assured him three times not to be afraid and that He is with him. When the Lord is present, so are his grace and power. Thus we no longer need be afraid. The Lord Jesus assured his disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations, do not be afraid for I am with you.” Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”. Emmanuel means God with us. Jesus is Emmanuel. He is with us. This is a reality, a truth. But if we do not go, we cannot experience the promise of his presence.
2. Promise of the Lord’s Presence until the Very End of the Age — What is the very end of the age? Nobody knows at all. Two thousand years have already gone by since the Lord told the disciples ‘I will be with you until the very end of the age’. Nobody has ever lived 2000 years. The oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah, is only 969 years old, he didn’t even reach a thousand. I guess no one of us will live to a thousand years of age. What the Lord meant was ‘there is no day that I will not be with you. If you live to 80, or 90, I will be with you all your 80 – 90 years of life.’ Since that is so, what do we need to be afraid of? I tell you, no one in this world will forever be with us. Sometimes, our husband, wife, children may not be there for us too, but the Lord promised he will be us, until the very last second of our life. Will you still be afraid? Just go, this promise is yours, is mine , is ours.
The Great Commission is a spiritual 3-layered sandwich – the Lord’s authority is on top, the Lord’s promise below and in the middle is the Great Commission. Are you willing to go?