Well, it probably would be helpful for us to start with a bit of context, right?
So let's look at verses 16 and 17 where Matthew provides the context for us.
Now, the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.
So let's think about what took place just prior to this.
It was the death and resurrection of our Lord.
On the day of Jesus' resurrection, we read through the Gospels that Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem.
You'll remember the disciples that he met on the Emmaus Road.
You remember the women, Mary Magdalene in particular, that he met near the garden tomb.
And then he appears to those same women as well as many of the disciples in a room in Jerusalem on the night of his resurrection.
But do you remember what Jesus had told the women to tell the disciples?
He told them, tell the disciples, and if you remember from our study in Mark, and tell Peter especially, go to Galilee, I'll meet you there.
He had told the disciples that as well.
If you think back to perhaps it was Mark chapter 15 or 14.
On that night when Jesus had told the disciples that they would betray him, that they would run and forsake him, he said,
But after I am risen, go to Galilee, I'll meet you there.
And that's what we find Matthew recording for us.
He picks up not in Jerusalem, but in Galilee.
That's where the disciples had gone.
This is probably just within a couple of weeks of Jesus' resurrection.
And after about a month, they returned to Jerusalem.
That's where Jesus ascended back to heaven.
The disciples were filled with the Spirit at Pentecost, and we begin our study of Acts and the early stages of the church from there.
Now, the Great Commission here in Matthew 28 was not the final interaction that Jesus had with his disciples.
It would seem that way if you're only looking at Matthew's gospel, but that's not the final interaction.
This was in that Galilean rendezvous type time frame that Jesus and his disciples had.
So the disciples journeyed to a mountain that Jesus at some point had told them to go to, and they waited for him, and he showed up, and this was the instruction that he gave them.
Now, we might expect, as we might expect, they had a mixed reaction to Jesus' appearance.
And it included two different things in verse 17.
The first thing it included was worship.
They see Jesus, not for the first time, but they see Jesus once again, and they worship him.
And then there's this intriguing little phrase that Matthew adds in.
He says, and some of them doubted.
And what is it that we're supposed to understand about that?
There's not a lot of clarity given to us.
We're not told who doubted, and we're not told what the nature of their doubt was.
But there's no reason for us to get bent out of shape about it.
It's the fact that their first reaction was worship.
The fact that they had followed Jesus' commands to actually go to the mountain and to meet him there indicates this was not the kind of doubt that would bring their faith in the person and work of Christ into question.
It's not that kind of doubt.
I think that the sense of the doubt here has more to do with the awesome amazement that comes with being confronted by something otherwise thought impossible.
Does that make sense?
This man, their friend, their Lord, a few days before this was dead.
Now he's alive.
Okay, that's strange.
That's not something you would ever expect to take place.
No matter how many times Jesus told them it was going to take place, it never clicked with their minds.
And now after seeing him dead, after knowing that he was truly dead, he appears and stands before them.
And I think that probably the dynamic of doubt that Matthew intends to pass on is this kind of a, I can't believe what's happening in front of my eyes right now.
I think it's probably that kind of doubt.
You may disagree.
That's fine.
And there's no reason for us to explore it any further than that today.
But the death and resurrection of Jesus set these men on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
The final appearances of Jesus to them serve the purpose of settling their hearts and focusing their minds.
They'd been through three years of training.
And now they were distraught.
Jesus focuses these final 40 days before his ascension on preparing them for what was next.
He had chosen them for a distinct purpose.
That purpose was to go into the world to preach the gospel.
It was to establish his church.
It would ultimately be to write the New Testament scriptures.
And then eventually they would give their lives.
Jesus uses this moment as well as the others to bring powerful clarity to what they were called to do.
And he used them to set a pattern of faith, a pattern of practice that continues on with each believer still today.
And the Great Commission passage is part of that pattern.
That's why we come back to it time and again.
This is not the first time we've looked at this passage together as a church.
It certainly won't be the last time we look at this passage together as a church.
Because routinely we need to come back to the patterns to which Jesus has given us to follow.
And this Great Commission pattern is an important one for us to consider over and over.
Three things I'd like to point out in the passage here to you this morning.
The first one is this, divine authority.
Divine authority.
Look with me at verse 18.
And Jesus came and said to them,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
All authority in heaven, all authority on earth has been given to me.
Now, Paul's there intentionally.
Because it may be our habit to almost speedily work through a verse like that without considering exactly what Jesus said.
As one author put in, we can almost thoughtlessly sing as we clap our hands, he's got the whole world in his hands.
Without actually stopping to consider that the claim that Jesus makes in verse 18 is the most grandiose claim ever to be made in all of human history.
All authority in heaven, all authority on earth, all the power there is to have, all of the authority there is to have has been given to me, Jesus says.
So let's stop and think about this for a moment.
Douglas O'Donnell said verse 18 is indeed the highest Christology to find in the Bible.
How can Jesus say all authority has been given to me when the Lord God said in Isaiah 42.8,
I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no other.
And he goes on to write, let's face it, Jesus is claiming here that he shares the glorious authority that Israel's God has said he will not share with another.
Jesus is claiming that he is distinct from the Father and yet is in charge of creation just as God is.
Verse 18 is a statement that is bold.
It is a plain claim of oneness with the Lord God.
Jesus is telling these men, I am God.
All of the authority in heaven and on earth that you would ascribe to God has been given to me.
It belongs to me.
And indeed, this is what the scriptures testify to the Messiah, to the person of Jesus.
Let me just walk you through a few passages.
We'll start with the very first verse in the Bible.
Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
What is that indicative of?
All authority in heaven and on earth.
That's Genesis 1.1.
Now I want you to hear John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3.
In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.
So the claim of the scripture is that when we come to Genesis 1.1 and see in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth.
What we are really saying there is in the beginning, Jesus created the heavens and the earth.
All power, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.
In Exodus chapter 20, at the beginning of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, God says,
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
His authority, his power extends to the ability to deliver entire nations, entire peoples in such miraculous ways as has never been seen since.
Now I want you to see what Jesus claimed.
In fact, maybe you'd want to turn there.
Luke chapter 4.
In fact, it's just a few pages probably over from where you are in Matthew 28.
Look with me at Luke chapter 4.
Luke chapter 4 and verse 16.
Luke 4, 16.
That's a quotation from the prophet Isaiah.
Now look at verse 20.
He rolled up the scroll.
He gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
And the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed on him.
And what was it that Jesus said?
Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
Today, this has been fulfilled before you.
What was Jesus saying?
I am this man, Isaiah foretold.
I am the one with the authority and the power over heaven and over earth to deliver captives and to bring sight to the blind and to do exactly what God has done with Israel coming out of Egypt.
That's me.
I have that power.
And if you remember, back in our study of Mark, in chapters 4 and 5, we saw a sequence of examples that showed Jesus' divine power over nature.
Remember, as he's in the boat with the disciples, the boat's falling apart as a result of the heavy storm that had come on the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus awakes.
They wake him up.
And he says, peace be still.
And he demonstrates power over nature.
Now, have you ever seen anybody restrain nature with their words?
All authority in heaven and on earth.
Immediately after that, we see he has power over demons.
That's in chapter 5.
Remember the demonic of Gerasa?
He had thousands of demons that were plaguing him.
Jesus cast them out and into the swine.
He has power over demons.
Even the demons tremble.
His name.
Immediately after that, we see he has power over disease.
The woman with the issue of blood comes in the press of the crowd and touches the hem of his garment.
And immediately, just upon touching the hem of his robe, she is made new.
And then we see he has power over death.
The woman grabbed the hem of his robe as he was moving toward the house of a ruler.
Jairus, his daughter, was dead.
Jesus goes into their house.
He raises her from the dead.
Well, what is the scripture testifying to there?
All authority, all power in heaven and in earth is given to me.
Let me show you in one more place.
I think this is on the screen, Becky.
In Daniel chapter 7, perhaps you remember this vision from Daniel.
He said,
Now I want you to listen to how the apostles wrote of Jesus.
Ephesians chapter 1.
According to the working of God's great might,
that he worked in Christ,
Now, do you hear Daniel 7 in Ephesians 1?
Of course.
What about Philippians 2?
Daniel 7,
Daniel 7, being told through the apostles in relation to Jesus.
He has all power, all authority.
He is God.
And how is it in this context that Jesus intends to exercise his divine authority?
In the context of the Great Commission, why would he say all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me?
Because at the heart of Jesus' statement is Jesus' authority over the darkness of this world.
That's the point here.
Now, we could take from this the implication of the fact that because all authority has been given to him, he is the Lord.
Therefore, we must obey this command.
But that's not what he's primarily getting across here.
The disciples already recognized him as Lord.
They knew that they had been chosen to be sent out with his message.
That's what he had spent the last three years training them to do.
The assertion here is about his power, his authority to forgive sinners, to set them free from Satan's dominion, to reconcile them to God, and to give them eternal life.
That's why he's saying this in verse 18.
All authority has been given to me.
Therefore, I have authority over the darkness of this world.
I have the authority.
I have the power to forgive sin and to give eternal life.
He was getting his disciples to consider his resurrection so that he might say, all authority over the darkness of this world has been given to me, so go preach the gospel.
Go preach the gospel because of what I have done.
Tell everyone from every nation the good news that I have come to save them from their sin, to rescue them from eternal death in hell.
I have that authority.
I have that power.
Go tell them now.
Which is why we find Peter in Acts early on saying things like, let all the ous of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.
It's why later on he says, this Jesus is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Before he ever gets to the imperative of making disciples, he gives the boldest indicative you will ever find in the scriptures.
He says, I have all authority, so go preach the good news.
That's why he says it, divine authority.
Number two, missional responsibility.
Missional responsibility.
Look at verse 19.
Go therefore, he says.
The therefore means that they're going because of what he just said.
I have authority, therefore, go.
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.
Missional responsibility.
So the only way to really understand our kingdom mission, what it is that Jesus wants from us as his people now,
what is he commissioning us to do?
We have to consider these specific responsibilities.
Responsibilities.
Responsibilities are expressed in four simple verbs in this verse.
Maybe that would be a helpful way for us to look at it.
Go, make, baptize, teach.
Four verbs.
Go, make, baptize, teach.
But in this verse, not all verbs are created equal.
Well, not to bore you with stuff about Greek, but it is beneficial to us to understand this here.
What's underlying this in the Greek language is one imperative with three participle phrases.
So Jesus, in other words, gives one specific command, and he gives three ways by which he intends for us to fulfill that command.
Does that make sense?
So we're not looking at these as four different commands.
One command, three ways to fulfill it.
So let's talk about it.
Make disciples of all nations.
That's the imperative.
That's the one command.
All of this really comes down to that statement.
Make disciples of all nations.
Now, a disciple is simply someone who believes and follows Jesus.
So Jesus, then, is commanding the apostles to do with others what he has spent the last three years doing with them.
Think about that.
Jesus' time with these men included intentional evangelism.
He called them.
He went to them.
He said, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
He went by the receipt of custom, and he called out to Levi, and he said, follow me.
He called them.
He didn't only call them.
It also included patient instruction.
It doesn't take very long in reading the Gospels to see not only did Jesus teach them,
but Jesus exercised amazing divine patience in teaching these men.
He gave his life to them through friendship, teaching, training.
He patiently endured their immaturities.
He lovingly restored them when they failed.
He trained them to faithfully follow him, and now he's commissioning them to help others faithfully follow him through the same method,
intentional evangelism and patient instruction,
which means that Jesus intended for these disciples and, by extension, for us to give our lives to others,
to endure their immaturities,
to patiently instruct them in the faith,
to be with them,
to bear with them,
to love them.
And that he told them to make disciples of all nations
was an especially radical instruction for these young Jewish men.
Christ's authority in the Gospel was not for the Jews only.
It was for all the nations of the world.
Remember in John chapter 10,
Jesus was describing himself as the great shepherd of the sheep.
Here's what he said in verse 16.
I have other sheep that are not of this fold,
that is not of Israel.
I must bring them also,
and they will listen to my voice,
so there will be one flock,
one shepherd.
Now do you remember when we studied Ephesians 2
on that Gospel focus?
What is it that Christ has made us?
He hasn't Christianized Jews
and Judaized Gentiles.
It's a new creation.
He's creating a new kingdom people in his Gospel,
and it's for all nations.
Remember Revelation 5,
that great throne room scene in heaven
as John depicts it.
He says,
and they sing a new song,
worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain.
By your blood,
you ransomed people for God
from every tribe
and language
and people
and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom.
Priests are God,
and they shall reign on the earth.
This was radical instruction.
Jesus tells them,
go now,
make disciples
and do it with people
from all nations
in every place.
the kingdom mission
of Lakeside Bible Church
is the same.
Make disciples
of all nations.
And here's the way
Jesus intends for us
to do it, okay?
Three ways he intends for us
to do it in this passage.
Number one,
go to them.
Go to them.
Look again at verse 19.
Go therefore.
Now this isn't so much
a direct command
to go to a particular place.
That's not what Jesus
is intending to get across here.
This really has the sense of
as you're going.
The going is assumed.
So in other words,
Jesus is saying,
I alone have all power
over sin and death.
Therefore,
as you're going forward
from here,
make disciples
of all nations.
That doesn't lessen
Jesus' command.
It actually strengthens
his command
because it reflects
this state of urgency.
This urgency of mind
that intentionally engages
people with the gospel
as we go through life.
it confronts
our inevitable lethargy
that gets so caught up
in the routines of life
that we don't often think
about evangelizing
the people that God
has put in our path.
So Jesus says,
go to them.
Go to them.
As you're going
through this life,
intentionally engage
with people
about the gospel
because nobody evangelizes
by accident.
The closest that would
come to in the scriptures
would be those
with the gift
of evangelism.
But even those people
would be exercising
their gift
in an intentional way.
You don't just happen
to evangelize.
You do it on purpose.
And as we said before,
it takes an acute awareness
of the lostness around us
and then a desire
to bring others
into the kingdom.
I think about it.
I don't know if you do this.
I do this from time to time.
Do you ever sit here
on Sunday
and happen to get distracted
by all the windows
and see all of the cars
driving down the street
while we worship?
Or maybe seeing all the people
who come in and park
and they walk down the sidewalk
to go get their hair done
or go a couple of places down
and get their massage
or maybe they go
to the Mexican market
to get some tortillas
or whatever it is
that they're doing for the day.
Do you ever see those people
and the thought cross your mind?
I wonder if they know Jesus
because they're not at worship today.
I think about that.
I drive through my neighborhood
on a Sunday.
Perhaps you did this this morning
and you saw all the cars
of your neighbors
who were still in the driveway.
That doesn't mean
that they didn't go to church.
And just because they didn't go
to church today
doesn't mean that they're believers.
But it's a pretty good indication
when people are faithful
to the gathered worship
that they belong to Christ.
And I wonder how often
we're just aware
that there are all these people
around us
who don't actually know Christ.
And when we have these interactions
with them in our lives
as we're going
and we're talking to them
about the grass.
I had a conversation with
some of you know
Sarah Lynn and Mark.
They've come to a couple
of services here.
Their son Jack
comes to our Thursday night
kids program.
And a couple of weeks ago
we met at a park
and she had some questions
specifically about evangelism
and our approach to it.
And we were just talking
had the topic.
And I told her
about my next door neighbor.
She's been my neighbor
for three years
and she's pretty reserved.
But over the course
of three years
she's warmed up to me.
And every time
I see her out
walking around the house
or something
I'll find something
outside to do
so that I can go
and have a conversation.
I just want her to like me.
I want my neighbors
to like me.
And our thing right now
is the grass
because this is grass season
and every time
we're outside
we talk about it.
And we were talking
a couple of days ago
she had spilled
some fertilizer
and we were talking
about fertilizer
and she said
it's funny
my daughter asked me
the other day
what do you
and the neighbor
spend all that time
outside talking about?
And she's like
she laughed
and she said
well we talk about
fungus
and fertilizers
and grass.
and she said
that and immediately
it pierced my heart.
For three years
I've talked to Karina
about grass
and fertilizer
and fungus
and very few times
have I ever said
Karina
what do you think
about God?
For three years
I'm convicted by that.
It's an awareness
of lostness.
It's going beyond
just being
a friendly neighbor
to caring about
the soul
of our neighbor.
To caring about
the soul
of the people
that God
has put in our lives.
Jesus says
go to them.
Go to them.
He doesn't mean
that your life
has to be consumed
every day
with knocking
on a hundred doors
so that you can
be like the Mormons
or the Jehovah's.
That's not what Jesus means.
He just means
as you're going
intentionally
engaging people
with the gospel.
Go to them.
Evangelize them
is the next thing
he says.
Evangelize them.
Look again
at verse 19.
Baptizing them
in the name
of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
This is not so much
about baptism itself
as it is
the response
to the gospel
that undergirds
one's baptism.
He's not saying
just go out
and see how many people
you can get wet.
That's not what he means here.
He's talking
about evangelism.
Now baptism
was not uncommon
for the Jews.
They baptized
Gentiles
into Judaism
and in the New Testament
baptism is so
tightly linked
to conversion
that there are times
that the apostles
actually use
the term baptism
when they're really
referring to salvation.
Not because baptism
was salvific
but because it was
so tightly linked
to a person's
profession of faith
and conversion
in the New Testament.
That's why we care
so much
about being Baptist,
about following
the Lord's commands
in regards
to believers baptism.
But in this context
the Jews,
a Gentile
wanting to convert
to Judaism
would go through
this rite of baptism
that symbolized
the washing of sin
turning away
from their pagan
beliefs
turning to
Israel's beliefs.
But that's not
the same as
Christian baptism
that Jesus institutes
here in the Great Commission.
Christian baptism
takes a person
whether Jew
or Gentile
and acts
as a public
profession of faith
that they are
turning from sin
and from everything else
and turning to Christ
turning to Jesus
in that moment.
And as far as
the Great Commission
is concerned
this is the responsibility
to call sinners
to repent
to call them
to believe Christ
and of course
this would then
be followed
by believers baptism
a public
profession
of this new faith
and repentance.
So what is Jesus saying?
Go to them
and when you go to them
evangelize them
bring them to faith
in the Trinitarian God
bring them to faith
in Christ.
And then he says
thirdly
disciple them
go to them
evangelize them
disciple
them
teaching them
to observe
all that I have
commanded you
he says
in verse 20
that's the building
up the body part
not the body part
but the part
of this deal
that is building
up the body.
Do you remember
that from a couple
of weeks ago?
Ephesians chapter 4
when the church
is functioning
the way that it
is supposed
to function
Paul says
it builds itself
up into Christ
builds itself up
it's just discipleship
goes all the way
back to the
great commission
Jesus says
go to them
evangelize them
and then build
them up
teach them
disciple them
so many people
think of the
great commission
only in terms
of evangelism
but evangelism
is only a part
of it
our kingdom
and mission
includes much
more than that
we're to commit
to helping
one another
faithfully
follow Christ
and if we're
going to
fulfill the
mission
God has
given us
we have
to be
committed
to
discipling
Frederick
Bruner
said
when you
come to
church
you may
find
compassion
you may
find
soup
kitchens
you may
find
entertainment
you may
find
beautiful
music
you may
find
friends
you may
find
all
sorts
of
things
when you
come
to
church
in
the
21st
century
but
if
you
do
not
find
the
unique
treasure
of
Christ
teaching
then
the
church
has
sold
you
short
because
that's
our
mission
not
only
from
the
pulpit
but
also
in
the
pew
tonight
when
you
gather
for
Lakeside
Connect
there
are
some
great
discussion
points
for
Romans
14
and
the
questions
are
designed
to
not
be
very
easy
if
you
have
a
problem
answered
they
are
designed
to
encourage
one
another
disciple
one
another
sharpen
one
another
you
say
what
does
this
mean
practically
how
are
we
supposed
to
do
that
we
go
to
them
we
evangelize
them
we
disciple
them
what
does
that
actually
mean
well
there's
a
million
different
ways
we
do
that
but
the
main
thing
is
we
just
take
the
words
of
Jesus
and
the
gospel
of
Jesus
everywhere
we
go
we
look
for
ways
to
bring
him
up
in
conversation
and
in
various
circumstances
a
couple
of
years
ago
Jonathan
and
I
this
has
been
several
years
ago
now
actually
Jonathan
and
I
were
flying
somewhere
I
don't
know
we
were
going
somewhere
and
I
was
in
this
phase
where
I
was
really
anxious
when
I
flew
for
some
reason
I
don
know
what
it
was
but
I
would
get
really
anxious
and
we
got
on
we
parked
our
car
at
the
airport
and
we
got
on
one
of
the
buses
that
takes
you
to
the
terminal
it
was
just
me
and
Jonathan
and
a
pilot
and
maybe
it
was
Scobie
I
don't
know
who
it
was
but
we
were
on
the
bus
together
and
we
just
struck
up
a
conversation
and
I
asked
him
what
do
you
tell
nervous
flyers
and
this
guy's
first
response
was
well
I
don't
know
what
you
believe
but
I'm
a
Christian
and
I
just
believe
that
God
is
sovereign
over
my
life
and
that
when
it's
time
for
me
to
go
there's
nothing
I
can
do
to
change
that
so
I
just
trust
that
to
the
Lord
and
then
he
went
on
and
gave
me
the
pilot
answers
there's
more
people
killed
on
mules
in
the
great
canyon
every
year
than
commercial
airlines
and
all
those
kinds
of
stuff
but
he
just
did
a
very
simple
thing
I
didn't
have
the
courage
at
that
point
to
tell
him
I
was
a
pastor
I
couldn't
bear
myself
open
at
that
point
but
imagine
if
I
he
just
taking
the
gospel
with
him
as
he
goes
you
see
so
you
don't
have
to
be
a
pastor
to
do
that
you
just
have
to
be
a
Christian
who
is
aware
of
lostness
and
who
understands
Jesus
mission
for
the
church
to
go
to
people
evangelize
them
and
disciple
them
I
brought
with
me
some
resources
even
today
that
I
would
love
for
you
to
!
in
fact
we
gonna
stop
John
because
somebody
that
you
have
been
talking
to
for
a
while
and
maybe
you
want
to
study
the
gospel
of
John
together
here's
two
particular
gospel
tracks
this
one's
by
John
Piper
called
the
greatest
chapter
in
the
Bible
and
it's
a
reflection
on
Romans
chapter
8
when
Paul
writes
he
who
did
not
spare
his
own
son
but
gave
him
up
for
us
all
how
will
he
not
also
with
him
graciously
give
us
all
things
and
he
goes
through
and
he
just
talks
about
that
one
verse
what
a
powerful
tool
to
put
in
somebody's
hand
you've
been
talking
to
hey
have
you
ever
thought
about
what
the
greatest
chapter
in
the
Bible
is
here's
what
John
Piper
thinks
about
it
back
three
kingdom
solidarity
kingdom
solidarity
the
end
of
verse
20
final
sentence
and
behold
I
am
with
you
always
to
the
end
of
the
age
verse
18
Jesus
is
divine
authority
is
the
motivation
for
the
great
commission
so
he
says
all
authority
belongs
to
me
so
go
it's
the
motivation
you
see
when
we
get
to
the
end
of
verse
20
though
his
divine
authority
is a
source
of
comfort
it's
a
source
of
help
and
assistance
I want
you to
think
about
what
Jesus
had
just
told
these
men
a few
days
before
you
can
read
about
it
in
John
chapter
16
Jesus
told
them
I'm
going
to
leave
you
I'm
not
going
to
be
here
anymore
and
after
I
leave
you
I'm
going
to
send
you
out
you're
going
to
get
kicked
out
of
the
synagogues
so
everything
that you
have loved
culturally
as a
Jewish
man
that's
going to
be
taken
away
from
you
the
world's
going
to
hate
you
and
eventually
they're
going
to
kill
you
now
you
can
imagine
that
these
men
probably
were
a
little
bit
nervous
after
Jesus
said
those
things
and
now
he
stands
on
the
mountain
with
them
and
he
says
it's
almost
time
for
me
to
go
but
all
authority
has
been
given
to
me
go
to
this
world
that's
going
to
kill
you
but
know
that
I'm
going
with
you
I
will
be
with
you
until
I
return
to
the
end
he
commission
from
their
Lord
was
felt
with
tremendous
fear
but
he
closed
with
the
most
comforting
words
you
could
ever
hear
again
several
years
ago
I
think
this
was
even
before
Ashland
was
born
I
went
on
a
men
and
boys
camp
out
with
our
church
we
were
staying
at
a
camp
ground
in Shelby, and we stayed in these cabins that had several sets of bunk beds in each cabin room.
My dad and my brother and I were together, and we were with another man from my dad's church
who had his young boys with him as well. And this is a camp in the middle of nowhere,
so at night it's dark, and it's unfamiliar. And in the middle of the night, one of the little boys,
he woke up and was frantic because he didn't know where he was, and it was dark. He couldn't see
anything, and he began to cry out, like cry out in shrieking fear in that moment. And of course,
it wakes us all up. The lights are still down. He can't see anything, but his dad, his name was John,
his dad got out of the bed and quickly ran over to him and just said his name. That's all he said.
And as soon as he said his name, this little boy just immediately goes silent. Now, his fear is
still there because it's still dark. He can't see his dad's face. He's still in an unfamiliar place.
He's still not exactly sure what to think about what's happening in that moment, but he hears his
dad's voice. He knows his dad is there, and that's all he needs to feel comfortable in that moment.
At least dad's here with me. Doesn't change my circumstance, but dad's here. I think there's
a sense in which Jesus is saying this same thing to these men on the mountain. I'm going to send you
into the darkness of this world, and it's going to be hard, and there's going to be a lot of fear,
and there's going to be a lot of turmoil in your life, but I'll be with you. That will be the peace
that you can take with you. But then I think this goes a step further even than comfort.
There's this kingdom solidarity, this commonality, unity that we experience with Christ as we fulfill
the kingdom mission. As we go, Jesus goes. As we work with missional responsibility,
Jesus works with divine authority. His presence not only brings comfort in the darkness,
it also brings power in the work itself. Because how many of us have been afraid to evangelize someone
or disciple someone merely on the basis of we're not exactly sure what to say,
and we're so afraid we're going to say something wrong. And we need to remember, I am with you.
I am with you. He will help you. He will empower you in those moments. As we go, he goes.
Therefore, go into the world with all the confidence that Christ will save his people when we preach
the gospel to others. Paul said to the Corinthians, we are God's fellow workers. We're working together
with God in this mission. So if we're going to grow into a church that honors and pleases the Lord,
we have to take seriously the necessity to obey the kingdom mission he's assigned to us.
Christ gospel authority means that whoever calls on the name of the Lord,
will be saved. And our responsibility is to go to the people of this world with the intention to
evangelize them and disciple them. And as we obey this command, the Holy Spirit goes with us.
He provides us comfort in our hardship and power in our preaching. So he doesn't send us on our own.
Amen.