[0:00] We have, as a church, been spending this month on mission, and we will end this month with that great missionary text, Matthew 28, 16 to 20.
[0:14] This passage of the Bible has moved generations of men, women, and children to sacrifice their all, their homes, their careers, their lives, to take the gospel to the edge of the world and beyond.
[0:33] And I pray that this passage will do that for us today. I want to make three simple points from the passage.
[0:45] The first point is the reason for global mission. And I want to draw your attention to verse 18. The reason for global mission.
[0:59] Jesus came to them, that is the 11, and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. It has been said that mission is beggars telling other beggars where to find food.
[1:19] That is true. The world is full of needy people, blind people, destroying themselves. They are like sheep without a shepherd.
[1:34] And we ought to have compassion on them. But the reason for mission given in this passage here is not simply the needs of the world.
[1:46] Nor is it simply a command of Jesus. Since William Carey, Christians have treated Matthew 28 as the 11th commandment.
[2:02] Yes, it is true that Jesus gave a commandment to his 11. But again, the reason for global mission given here by Jesus is very different.
[2:16] Please have a look again at verse 28. Jesus says, All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me.
[2:26] The reason for the disciples of Jesus going into the world to proclaim the gospel is that Jesus is Lord.
[2:38] The Old Testament has promised that God will one day send his special king to establish his kingdom. He is the son of David. In Daniel 7, we see a picture painted of this coming king.
[2:55] When he comes, all authority on heaven and on earth will be given to him. And at the resurrection of Jesus, this has now happened.
[3:05] The greatest missionary passage in the Bible is ultimately not about mission. Or church.
[3:17] Or money. Ultimately, the greatest missionary passage in the Bible is about Jesus. Jesus is the reason for global mission.
[3:31] For he is worthy of all our glory and honour and power. If global mission were about the needs of our neighbours, we can always find a greater need than theirs.
[3:48] The church in Cheswood is shrinking. But the church in Africa is growing. Logically, why would we give to Africa when we can give here?
[4:04] When the need seems to be greater. But, if our focus is on the honour of Jesus, then we will not find one worthier of our glory, honour, or our money, or our lives.
[4:22] I have told a story of Helen Roosevelt before, but her testimony is so great and worthy that we should hear it again.
[4:36] Roosevelt was a doctor working in the Congo in the 1950s. She worked with orphans. She started a camp for orphans with leprosy.
[4:49] A godly, gracious, compassionate woman with a quiet, gentle spirit. A woman of God. In the 1960s, there was political unrest.
[5:04] A revolution. Most Western missionaries left. But Helen Roosevelt stayed, along with a few others.
[5:15] She couldn't leave the people behind, and trusting herself to God. In that period, at least 27 missionaries were killed.
[5:28] Helen Roosevelt herself was captured by the rebels. She was beaten, kicked, and brutally raped. Finally, she was rescued by mercenary soldiers and returned to Britain for recovery.
[5:45] She was asked a tough question by a TV interviewer. And that was the question, Was it worth it? The suffering and all that you went through, was it worth it?
[6:02] And she replied, The question is not whether it is worth it. The question is, Is God worthy?
[6:15] And the answer is yes. He is worthy. A hundred percent worthy. He is worthy of all that we can offer up and more.
[6:29] After 14 months of treatment in England, she returned to the Congo to help rebuild the nation. What is worthy to give up your life for?
[6:45] To sacrifice everything for? The reason for mission. Secondly, the content of global mission.
[6:56] Verses 19 to 20. 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.
[7:20] The content of mission. Because Jesus is Lord, what are his disciples to do? They are, verses 19 to 20, they are to make disciples of the nations.
[7:35] Global mission is discipleship. Well, how do we make disciples? Two things are highlighted. Firstly, baptism, which is what we'll be doing later on.
[7:50] But strictly speaking, the baptism here is not the baptism that we will be doing with water later on today. What we will do later with the water is a symbol of what Jesus is talking about here.
[8:08] Here, to baptize, I believe, means to bring into relationship with someone under the authority of.
[8:21] And what, this is why, sorry, this is why the nations are to be baptized into. So the proposition is into.
[8:31] To bring into a relationship. Into what relationship? Into who? To have relationship. The nations are to be brought into a relationship with God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.
[8:49] It is a reminder to us that the God of the Bible is not the force, but personal. He is Father.
[9:00] God is also Son. God is a reminder to us that we cannot save ourselves from our sins. We need someone else to save us from our sins.
[9:14] It's also a reminder that God is Spirit. That you cannot be in a relationship with this God by trying harder to be a better person.
[9:25] You need to be born again. Our friends today will be baptized by water later. The ceremony symbolizes that they have entered into a relationship or under the authority of this God.
[9:46] Secondly, discipleship involves teaching and by implication, learning. It is, first of all, an intellectual exercise.
[9:57] Discipleship involves the changing of the mind. In Matthew, if you read through the Gospel, you will see that Jesus has spoken a great deal about discipleship.
[10:10] So, Sermon on the Mount. Christian disciples have a righteousness greater than the hypocrites. Christian disciples do not do religion for show.
[10:22] We are faithful in our marriage. We are people of our word. We love even our enemies. Like Helen Roosevelt.
[10:33] We are not preoccupied by the worries and anxieties of this life. Our greatest ambition is Jesus and his kingdom.
[10:45] If you go to Matthew 16, 24 to 26, this is what Jesus says. If I can tap that, 16. Jesus said to his disciples, discipleship, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
[11:13] For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul?
[11:27] Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Discipleship involves Jesus.
[11:39] This is a disciple of Jesus. Jesus is everything to this disciple. Global mission is discipleship.
[11:50] You cannot disciple the nations unless, of course, you yourself are a disciple of Jesus. You cannot call other people to give up everything for Jesus if you yourself are not doing it.
[12:08] The reason for mission, the content of mission, and lastly, the promise of mission. Verse 20. Jesus says, go into the world to make disciples and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.
[12:34] The promise is the presence of Jesus. We need to remember that global mission is Jesus' mission.
[12:46] It has always been and it will always be. Jesus continues to be at work in the world today, saving it.
[12:58] The reason for mission, the content for mission, and the promise of mission. When I started, I invited you to consider, to think about what would be the content of your final letter or your final tweet.
[13:23] I wonder what you wrote or if you didn't write what you had in mind. I think that what you write tells a lot about what's important to you, who you are as a person, and what you want the people after you to remember you by.
[13:45] I want to tell you about Karen Watson. She was an international board missionary. On 15th of March, 2004, she was killed in Iraq.
[14:01] Karen was 38. She had been a Christian for only eight years. She loved the word of God and the work of God with a great passion.
[14:14] This is what she wrote as her last letter. Dear Pastor, you should only be opening this letter in the event of my death.
[14:27] When God calls, there are no regrets. I try to share my heart with you as much as possible. My heart for donations. I wasn't called to a place.
[14:40] I was called to Him. To obey was my objective. To suffer was expected. His glory my reward.
[14:51] The missionary heart cares more than some think is wise, risks more than some think is safe, dreams more than some think is practical, expects more than some think is possible.
[15:09] I was called not to comfort or to success, but to obedience. There is no joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving Him. I love you and my church family.
[15:24] In His care, salaam, Karen. What you wrote, what you intend to write in your last letter says a lot about you.
[15:37] What is important to you? What you would hold of the greatest value? I wonder what you wrote. C.T.
[15:52] Stutt wrote, Nail the colors to the mask. That is the right thing to do and therefore that is what we must do and do it now.
[16:04] The evangelization of all that are un-evangelized. Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.
[16:17] Is there a war in our path? By our God we will leap over it. Are there lions and scorpions in our way?
[16:28] We will trample them under our feet. Does a mountain bar our progress? saying, Be thou cast into the sea.
[16:39] We will march on, soldiers of Jesus. Never surrender. Nail the colors to the mask.
[16:53] We have been talking about global mission. Sorry, this isn't translated. It's easy to talk.
[17:10] If you are a follower of Jesus, then you have been called to be part of this mission. And rather than just talk, I want to invite you, if you are a follower of Jesus, to nail your color to the mask.
[17:36] So again, this is very confronting. But if you're not prepared to do it here today, then perhaps you're not prepared to do it at all.
[17:48] I'm going to invite you to nail the color of, sorry, your color to the mask, not in the safety of your privacy, but to do it in public.
[18:07] What I want to do is Jesus has issued you a call to follow him, to deny yourself, to give your life. To be part of this global mission.
[18:21] If you are prepared to follow him, I want to invite you to nail your color to the mask. That is to stand with me, to ask God to take you and to use you to send you wherever he may.
[18:45] Right? If you prepare to do that, I want to invite you to stand now and as you stand, I'm going to invite you to pray with me a prayer.
[18:59] So if you are a follower of Jesus and you're ready to take on the world, with me. I'm going to invite you to say this prayer in your heart.
[19:19] If you prepare to do this, the prayer should be projected. Don't pray it lightly because God might answer you. All right?
[19:31] Let us pray. Dear Lord Jesus, I give myself to you, whatever the cost may be. Take every aspect of my life and use me for your kingdom to glorify your name.
[19:48] I desire to become a person who understands and lives and reverent free all of you. I'll do anything that you want me to do, go anywhere that you want me to go, and say anything you want me to say.
[20:05] I trust you, Lord, to do that which I cannot do for myself. Teach me, guide me, and empower me to feed your name. For the sake of your name, I pray.
[20:18] Amen.