MATTHEW: THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 193

TITLE: THE MAIN MANDATE, PART II

TEXT: MATTHEW 28:19b-20

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST IS BOTH FINISHED AND UNFINISHED.

* HIS GREAT WORK OF PURCHASING SALVATION FOR SINNERS IS FINISHED, AND NOTHING MAY BE ADDED TO IT, QUOTE JOHN 17:4, JOHN 19:30 AND HEBREWS 10:12.

** SO CHRIST’S WORK WHEN IT COMES TO PURCHASING SALVATION AND PAYING THE PRICE FOR SIN IS FINISHED.

*** HOWEVER, CHRIST’S WORK OF MINISTRY AND PROCLAMATION IS NOT FINISHED, IT IS ONGOING.

**** THAT WORK IS ENTRUSTED TO HIS DISCIPLES WHO MAKE UP COMMUNITIES OF BELIEVERS, ASSEMBLIES OF DISCIPLES CALLED THE CHURCH.

(2) AND THE MAIN MANDATE OF THE CHURCH IS TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.

* AND THE CHURCH IS TO BE ABOUT THIS PRIORITY UNTIL JESUS RETURNS.

** SO CHRIST’S WORK OF REDEMPTION IS COMPLETED, BUT CHRIST’S WORK OF EVANGELISM AND EQUIPPING CONTINUES THROUGH THE CHURCH.

*** AND THE CHURCH STARTED ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST IN A BLAZE OF GLORY. THE EARLY CHURCH WAS ON FIRE. SALVATION REACHES OUT TO JERUSALEM, JUDEA, SAMARIA AND TO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS.

**** BUT SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED, THE CHURCH HAS GOTTEN SIDETRACKED, OFF COURSE, WE’VE LOST SIGHT OF OUR MISSION AND WHAT WE ARE COMMISSIONED TO DO, WE’VE LOST OUR FOCUS, OUR COMPASS.

(3) AS A RESULT, THE CHURCH IN AMERICA ON THE WHOLE IS LIVING IN THE SMOKE OF THE CHURCH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS THAT WAS ON FIRE.

* AND IF I OPENED UP A DISCUSSION THIS MORNING ON WHY, THERE WOULD BE A LOT OF REASONS, ONE OF WHICH I’LL TALK ABOUT LATER.

** BUT BOTTOM LINE IS, TO FINISH CHRIST’S UNFINISHED WORK WHICH HE HAS ENTRUSTED TO HIS CHURCH, WE HAVE TO PRIORITIZE OUR LIVES AND UNDERSTAND OUR MISSION AND PURPOSE THROUGH CHRIST’S CHURCH.

*** AND TO FULFILL THE GREAT COMMISSION OUR EFFORTS NEED TO BE MORE FOCUSED AND SACRIFICIAL.

**** FOR IT WILL TAKE TIME, TRAINING AND MONEY TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO THROUGH HIS CHURCH.

(4) BUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS WILL NOT GET THE JOB DONE IF WE DON’T UNDERSTAND OUR MISSION, OUR PART IN THE PLAN.

* BELOVED, WE MUST SEE IT AS A TEAM EFFORT, A BODY EFFORT, A COLLECTIVE EFFORT, ALL OF US DOING OUR PART, FULFILLING OUR PURPOSE FOR REMAINING ON PLANET EARTH AFTER CHRIST SAVES US.

* AND LET ME SAY, WE HAVE OUR GREATEST JOY, OUR GREATEST FULFILLMENT AND BRING THE MOST GLORY TO GOD AS WE FULFILL THIS PURPOSE, OUR MAIN MANDATE.

** IN LIGHT OF THAT, TODAY WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THE CLOSING OF THE BOOK OF MATTHEW AS WE BY GOD’S GRACE FINISH THIS BOOK BY STUDYING THE GREAT COMMISSION.

*** AND TODAY WE CONTINUE THE THEME WE STARTED LAST WEEK WHICH I TITLED THE MAIN MANDATE. AND OUR STUDY TODAY IS PART II.

**** AND WE’LL LOOK AT JUST TWO POINTS AS WE LOOK AT THE MAIN MANDATE, PART II. NO. 1 THE ACTIVITY OF THE GREAT COMMISSION, VV. 19B&20A; AND NO. 2 THE ALWAYS OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE AS WE DO THIS MOST NOBLE WORK, V. 20B.

(5) AND WITHOUT FURTHER INTRODUCTION, LOOK AT V. 19, WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE ACTIVITY. LOOK AT MATTHEW 28:19 PLEASE.

I. THE ACTIVITY, (READ V. 19)

A. NOW LAST WEEK WE LOOKED AT V. 19A AND IT’S IMPORTANT THAT I REVIEW SOME THINGS SO V. 19B CAN BE UNDERSTOOD PROPERLY.

* AND FIRST OF ALL THE WORD THEREFORE IN THE FIRST PART OF V. 19 CONNECTS CHRIST’S AUTHORITY IN V. 18, TO WHAT THE DISCIPLES ARE TO DO IN V. 19.

** THEREFORE MEANS ON THE BASIS OF, BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S AUTHORITY, IT IS A TRANSITIONAL WORD.

*** AND WHAT CHRIST IS SAYING IS, “BECAUSE I AM SOVEREIGN LORD OF THE UNIVERSE, I HAVE BOTH THE AUTHORITY TO COMMAND YOU AS MY DISCIPLES TO BE MY WITNESSES AND GIVE YOU THE POWER TO ENABLE YOU TO OBEY MY COMMAND.

**** AND THE COMMAND IS TO MAKE DISCIPLES, FOR THE MAIN VERB IS MAKE DISCIPLES WHICH IS IN THE IMPERATIVE MOOD, WHICH IS A COMMAND.

1. AND UNFORTUNATELY THE GREAT COMMISSION IS OFTEN MISREPRESENTED BY THE EMOTIVE CALL TO GO.

* BUT IN REALITY, THE COMMISSION IS NOT TO GO, BUT TO MAKE DISCIPLES.

** FOR THE VERB GO, AN AORIST PASSIVE PARTICIPLE CAN BE TRANSLATED “HAVING GONE”.

*** IT ASSUMES “GOING” AS HAVING ALREADY TAKEN PLACE IN MAKING DISCIPLES.

**** AND YES WE MUST GO, BUT IN GOING, THE PURPOSE IS TO MAKE DISCIPLES. AN ASSUMPTION IS MADE.

2. IN FACT THE SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS AND ACTIVITY JESUS GIVES FOR MAKING DISCIPLES INVOLVES 3 PARTICIPLES:

* GOING (RENDERED HERE AS GO), BAPTIZING AND TEACHING.

** SO JESUS PLACES HIS EMPHASIS ON WHAT IS TO BE DONE WHEN ONE HAS GONE, MAKE DISCIPLES.

*** AND YOU CAN MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS ONLY AS YOU GO, AND AS YOU MAKE DISCIPLES BY EVANGELIZING AND COMMUNICATING THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, AS PEOPLE REPENT OF THEIR SINS AND RECEIVE CHRIST, THEN BAPTIZE THEM AND TEACH THEM AS A PART OF THE DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS.

**** FOR YOU SEE A TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST IS A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, ONE WHO HAS SUBMITTED TO HIS LORDSHIP AND WANTS TO BE LIKE HIS MASTER.

3. A DISCIPLE IS ONE WHO HAS TURNED FROM SIN TO FOLLOW JESUS. HIS LIFE IS A LIFE OF LEARNING FROM HIS MASTER AND GROWING IN OBEDIENCE TO HIM.

* SO FOR A PERSON TO SHOW THAT THEY ARE A TRUE DISCIPLE OF JESUS, THERE MUST BE A CONTINUATION OF FAITH – PERSEVERANCE, GROWTH AND OBEDIENCE.

** AND PART OF THEIR OBEDIENCE WILL BE TO IDENTIFY WITH THEIR MASTER IN BELIEVER’S BAPTISM.

*** FOR JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO BAPTIZE THESE NEW CONVERTS IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

**** NOW THE VERB TRANSLATED BAPTIZE IS A WORD TRANSLITERATED INTO ENGLISH, THE WORD BAP-TID-ZO WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

4. AND IT LIT. MEANS TO DIP REPEATEDLY, TO IMMERSE, TO SUBMERGE (OF VESSELS SUNK) TO CLEANSE BY DIPPING OR SUBMERGING, TO WASH, TO MAKE CLEAN WITH WATER, TO WASH ONE’S SELF, BATHE, TO OVERWHELM.

* AND INHERIT IN THE WORD IS TO PLUNGE UNDER OR SUBMERSE, TO IMMERSE INTO WATER.

** THUS IMMERSION IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE MODE OF BAPTISM, NOT ONLY BECAUSE THE GREEK WORD BEHIND IT COMMUNICATES IMMERSION, BUT ALSO BY EXAMPLE IN THE N.T. AND BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY MODE THAT SYMBOLIZES BURIAL AND RESURRECTION.

*** AND BY EXAMPLE JESUS WAS BAPTIZED IN MATTHEW 3:16&17 IN THE RIVER JORDAN.

**** JOHN’S BAPTISM WAS AN IMMERSION BAPTISM IN PREPARATION FOR CHRIST AND IT SAYS IN JOHN 3:23.

5. AND EVEN THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH WHO WAS ON A DESERT ROAD WHEN PHILIP WAS SENT TO HIM TO DIRECT HIM TO CHRIST, BELIEVED AND WAS BAPTIZED BY GOING DOWN INTO THE WATER.

* SO WE ARE IMMERSIONISTS HERE AND FOLLOW WHAT WE BELIEVE IS THE BIBLICAL MODEL BY WORD, EXAMPLE AND TYPE, ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT AS CONVENIENT AS POURING OR SPRINKLING.

** NOW UNDERSTAND THAT BAPTISM IS COMMANDED BY CHRIST OF HIS FOLLOWERS, HIS DISCIPLES, AFTER SALVATION NOT BEFORE, BUT IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO SAVING OR SACRAMENTAL BENEFIT OR POWER.

*** BAPTISM HAS NO PART IN THE WORK OF SALVATION, BUT IT IS A GOD-ORDAINED AND GOD-COMMANDED ACCOMPANIMENT OF SALVATION. IT IS AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE AFTER SALVATION NOT TO BE SAVED BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE SAVED.

**** A PERSON IS JUSTIFIED BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE BECAUSE OF CHRIST ALONE, QUOTE EPHESIANS 2:8&9, ROMANS 3:28, ROMANS 4:5, ROMANS 5:1, ROMANS 10:9&10 AND GALATIANS 3:24.

6. SO WE ARE CLEARLY SAVED OR MADE RIGHTEOUS, OR CONVERTED BY FAITH. BAPTISM DOES NOT SAVE.

* YET BY GOD’S OWN DECLARATION, THE ACT OF BAPTISM IS A DIVINELY COMMANDED ACT OF OBEDIENCE.

** AND THE PERSON WHO IS UNWILLING TO BE BAPTIZED IS AT BEST A DISOBEDIENT BELIEVER, AND IF THEY PERSIST IN THEIR UNWILLINGNESS AFTER BEING TAUGHT THE TRUTH OF BAPTISM, THERE IS A REASON TO DOUBT THE GENUINESS OF HIS FAITH.

*** I MEAN IF THEY ARE UNWILLING TO COMPLY WITH THAT SIMPLE ACT OF OBEDIENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF FELLOW BELIEVERS, THEY WILL HARDLY BE WILLING TO STAND FOR CHRIST BEFORE THE UNBELIEVING WORLD!

**** AND IT MAY BE IGNORANCE, BUT IF THE TRUTH IS TAUGHT LIKE IT IS TODAY, THE QUESTION COMES UP, WHY WOULDN’T A FOLLOWER OF JESUS NOT WANT TO OBEY JESUS IN THIS AREA?

7. SO NEW CONVERTS NEED TO BE TAUGHT THAT THEY SHOULD BE BAPTIZED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, NOT TO SEAL OR CONFIRM THEIR SALVATION, BUT TO MAKE PUBLIC TESTIMONY TO IT IN OBEDIENCE TO THEIR NEWFOUND LORD.

* THE CALL TO BE A DISCIPLE OF JESUS IS NOT ONLY THE CALL TO SALVATION, BUT ALSO THE CALL TO OBEDIENCE, THE FIRST PUBLIC ACT OF WHICH SHOULD BE BAPTISM IN HIS NAME.

** THE PATTERN IS VERY CLEAR IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. THE 3000 SOULS CONVERTED AT PENTECOST WERE IMMEDIATELY BAPTIZED IN ACTS 2:41 (QUOTE IT).

*** AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, AS SOON AS THE ETHIOPIAN BELIEVED IN CHRIST, HE STOPPED HIS CHARIOT SO HE COULD BE BAPTIZED IN ACTS 8:38.

*** AS SOON AS THE APOSTLE PAUL RECEIVED HIS SIGHT AFTER HIS CONVERSION HE WAS BAPTIZED IN ACTS 9:18.

**** WHEN CORNELIUS AND HIS HOUSEHOLD WERE SAVED, PETER “ORDERED THEM TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST” IN ACTS 10:48.

8. AS UNBELIEVERS IN CORINTH WERE BEING WON TO JESUS CHRIST, THEY WERE ALSO BEING BAPTIZED IN ACTS 18:8.

* AND THEN WHEN PAUL FOUND SOME DISCIPLES OF JOHN IN EPHESUS WHO HAD ONLY BEEN BAPTIZED FOR REPENTANCE, HE TOLD THEM ABOUT JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM JOHN WAS MERELY PREPARING THE WAY, AND WHEN THEY BELIEVED, “THEY WERE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS” IN ACTS 19:15.

** SO HERE’S WHAT WE HAVE IN SCRIPTURE, DISCIPLES OF CHRIST ARE BAPTIZED. THEY ARE BAPTIZED AFTER SALVATION. THEY ARE BAPTIZED AS AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE, NOT FOR SALVATION AND THERE IS NO CLEAR ILLUSTRATION OF A BABY BEING BAPTIZED IN THE N.T., FOR ONE REASON, A BABY CANNOT BE A DISCIPLE OF JESUS AND CANNOT OBEY JESUS.

*** BEYOND THAT, AT THE END OF V. 19 BAPTISM IS TO BE MADE IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

**** BUT UNDERSTAND THIS, I DO NOT BELIEVE JESUS WAS GIVING A RITUAL FORMULA.

9. FOR “IN THE NAME OF” IS NOT A SACRAMENTAL FORMULA, AS SEEN IN THE FACT THAT THE BOOK OF ACTS REPORTS NO CONVERTS BEING BAPTIZED WITH THOSE PRECISE WORDS.

* NOW WE BAPTIZE THAT WAY, TO FOLLOW WHAT JESUS SAID, NOT AS A RITUAL, BUT THAT’S WHAT HE SAID, IT’S NOT WRONG TO SAY THAT.

** BUT THOSE WORDS ARE RATHER A RICH AND COMPREHENSIVE STATEMENT OF THE WONDERFUL UNION THAT BELIEVERS HAVE WITH THE WHOLE GODHEAD, THE WHOLE TRINITY.

*** FOR IN HIS STATEMENT HERE ABOUT BAPTISM, JESUS AGAIN CLEARLY PLACED HIMSELF ON AN EQUAL LEVEL WITH GOD THE FATHER AND WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

**** HE ALSO EMPHASIZES THE UNITY OF THE TRINITY BY DECLARING THAT BAPTISM SHOULD BE DONE IN THEIR ONE NAME SINGULAR, NOT IN THEIR SEPARATE NAMES.

10. BEYOND THAT, AS IT DOES IN MANY PARTS OF SCRIPTURE THE PHRASE THE NAME HERE EMBODIES THE FULLNESS OF A PERSON, ENCOMPASSING ALL THAT HE IS, HAS AND REPRESENTS.

* IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN A BELIEVER IS BAPTIZED, THEY ARE IDENTIFIED WITH EVERYTHING THAT GOD IS, HAS AND REPRESENTS.

** AND THAT’S WHAT WE SEE IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE 2’D ACTIVITY IN REFERENCE TO BAPTISM, WHICH IS THE 2’D REQUIREMENT IN THE DISCIPLING PROCESS.

*** IN MAKING DISCIPLES YOU MUST GO, YOU MUST BAPTIZE AND THIRDLY YOU MUST TEACH, LOOK AT V. 20A PLEASE.

B. READ V. 20A. NOW ANOTHER PART OF THE DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS IS EDUCATION. FOR THE CHURCH’S MISSION IS NOT SIMPLY TO CONVERT BUT TO TEACH.

* THE CONVERT, THE DISCIPLE IS CALLED TO A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD, AND IN ORDER TO OBEY HIM, IT IS OBVIOUSLY NECESSARY TO KNOW WHAT HE REQUIRES.

** AND BY DEFINITION A DISCIPLE IS BY DEFINITION A LEARNER AND FOLLOWER.

*** THEREFORE, STUDYING, UNDERSTANDING AND OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD IS THE LIFE LONG TASK OF EVERY TRUE DISCIPLE.

**** THE PURSUIT OF MASTERING THE SCRIPTURES TO BE LIKE CHRIST.

1. SO IN FULFILLING THE MAIN MANDATE AS A CHURCH WE MUST BE INVOLVED IN ORDERED LEARNING. WE MUST ESTABLISH WHAT DISCIPLES NEED TO KNOW AND IN WHAT ORDER THEY NEED TO KNOW IT.

* AND WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT PROCESS FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS NOW AND HAVE MORE WORK TO DO AS WE LAY OUT A MAP OF ORDERED LEARNING FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE.

** BUT WE MUST IN THIS PROCESS GO BEYOND FACTS TO OBEDIENCE, TO OBSERVE ALL THAT CHRIST HAS COMMANDED.

*** FOR THAT WORD OBSERVE OR OBEY IF YOU HAVE AN NIV MEANS TO ATTEND TO CAREFULLY, TO TAKE CARE OF, TO KEEP, TO HOLD FAST TO, TO PAY ATTENTION TO.

**** SO TO TEACH TO OBSERVE IS TO INFORM AND ALSO COMMIT TRUTH TO SOMEONE ELSE, BUT ALSO THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF BIBLICAL TEACHING CAN BE SEEN IN THAT WHAT IS TAUGHT NEEDS TO BE APPLIED, OBEYED.

2. SO MAKING A DISCIPLE IS NOT JUST LEADING SOMEONE TO FAITH IN CHRIST BUT ALSO REQUIRES TEACHING THAT ONE TO LIVE ACCORDING TO ALL THAT JESUS COMMANDED HIS ORIGINAL DISCIPLES.

* AND BELOVED WE SHOULD NOT OVERLOOK THE IMPORTANT QUALIFIER ALL HERE IN V. 20.

** FOR IT IS NOT A FULFILLMENT OF THE GREAT COMMISSION JUST TO LEAD SOMEONE TO CHRIST OR JUST TO TEACH THEM BASIC MORAL PRINCIPLES OF GODLY LIVING.

*** THEY ARE TO BE INSTRUCTED IN THE PRACTICAL OUTWORKINGS OF ALL OF JESUS’ COMMANDMENTS.

**** THE “ALL THAT I COMMANDED YOU” IS CRITICAL IN BEING A DISCIPLE. FOR INHERENT IN BEING A DISCIPLE IS BEING A LEARNER AND A FOLLOWER WHICH IMPLIES OBEDIENCE.

3. THUS THE EARLY DISCIPLES WERE “CONTINUALLY DEVOTING THEMSELVES TO THE APOSTLES TEACHING”, IN ACTS 2:42. (QUOTE IT)

* SO WHAT CHRIST HAD TAUGHT HIS 12 DISCIPLES WAS TO BE PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE CHURCH, SO THAT WHEREVER THE NAME OF JESUS WAS PREACHED, HIS VALUE SYSTEM, HIS PROGRAM AND HIS TRUTH WERE TO BE PROPAGATED AND PRESERVED.

** AND IN COMMENTING ABOUT THIS IN HIS COMMENTARY OF MATTHEW THE LATE JAMES MONTGOMERY BOICE SAID THIS: “THIS PARTICULAR COMMAND IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN OUR EXTREMELY SUPERFICIAL AGE.”

*** “YET, WHAT WE OBSERVE SEEMS TO BE THE OPPOSITE. INSTEAD OF STRIVING TO TEACH ALL CHRIST COMMANDED, MANY ARE TRYING TO ELIMINATE AS MUCH OF HIS TEACHING AS POSSIBLE, CONCENTRATING INSTEAD ON THINGS THAT ARE EASILY COMPREHENDED AND UNOBJECTIONABLE.”

**** AND MY RESPONSE IS BECAUSE OF THAT THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE AND GOD’S ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY IN ALL THINGS INCLUDING SALVATION ARE NOT AVOIDED. BUT THEY ARE UNAVOIDABLE IF YOU TEACH THE WHOLE COUNSEL AND ESSENTIAL IN HAVING A HIGH VIEW OF GOD.

4. BOICE WENT ON TO SAY THAT CORE TEACHING THAT IS EASILY COMPREHENDED AND UNOBJECTIONABLE IS DISTORTED.

* HE SAID, “IT IS USUALLY GRACE WITHOUT JUDGMENT, LOVE WITHOUT JUSTICE, SALVATION WITHOUT OBEDIENCE, AND TRIUMPH WITHOUT SUFFERING.”

** “THE MOTIVATION OF SOME OF THESE REDUCTIONISTS MAY BE GOOD; THEY WANT TO WIN AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE BUT THE METHOD IS THE WORLD’S AND THE RESULTS WILL BE THE WORLD’S.”

*** ROBUST DISCIPLES ARE NOT MADE BY WATERED-DOWN TEACHING.” (END QUOTE)

**** AND THAT QUOTE IS SO RIGHT ON, BELOVED WE NEED TO TEACH DISCIPLES TO OBEY ALL THAT CHRIST COMMANDED AS A PART OF MAKING DISCIPLES. WE MUST BE A TEACHING CHURCH.

5. AND THAT FINISHES THE ACTIVITY OF MAKING DISCIPLES, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE ALWAYS. LOOK BACK AT V. 20 PLEASE.

II. THE ALWAYS, (READ V. 20)

A. NOW IN FULFILLING THE MAIN MANDATE OF MAKING DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, WE HAVE A PRECIOUS PROMISE FROM OUR MASTER, OUR COMMANDER AND CHIEF, “LO I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS”.

* AND THE WORD LO OR SURELY IN THE NIV HAS NOT TO DO WITH ALTITUDE, LIKE IF YOU FLY AND YOUR PLANE GETS ABOVE 25,000 FEET, THE LORD WILL NO LONGER BE WITH YOU, (LO I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS),

** RATHER THE WORD LO OR SURELY IS AN INTERJECTION FREQUENTLY USED IN THE N.T. TO CALL ATTENTION TO SOMETHING OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE.

*** IT MEANS BEHOLD, SEE, SURELY I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS.

*** AND NOTE THAT THE TWO WORDS “I AM” IS AN EMPHATIC FORM THAT MIGHT BE RENDERED, “I MYSELF AM” CALLING SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE FACT OF CHRIST’S OWN PRESENCE.

**** SO JESUS WAS SAYING IN EFFECT, “NOW PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY, BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL.”

1. I MYSELF, YOUR DIVINE, RESURRECTED, LIVING, ETERNAL LORD, AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE WORLD, LIT. AGE.

* AND NOTE THAT ALWAYS LIT. MEANS “ALL THE DAYS”.

** AND FOR THE BELIEVER THAT MEANS ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE. BUT IN THE FULLEST MEANING FOR THE CHURCH AT LARGE, IT MEANS EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE, THAT IS UNTIL THE LORD RETURNS TO JUDGE THE WORLD AND TO RULE IN HIS EARTHLY KINGDOM.

*** AND JESUS WILL NOT VISIBLY RETURN TO EARTH AND DISPLAY HIMSELF BEFORE THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS MAJESTIC GLORY AND POWER UNTIL THE END OF THE AGE.

**** BUT UNTIL THAT TIME, THROUGHOUT THE PRESENT AGE, HE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH THOSE WHO BELONG TO HIM, LEADING THEM AND EMPOWERING THEM TO FULFILL HIS GREAT COMMISSION, HIS MAIN MANDATE.

2. WHAT A PRECIOUS PROMISE. WHAT AN ENCOURAGING FACT. HE IS IN THE MIDST OF THAT KIND OF WORK, FOR THAT WORK GLORIFIES HIM MOST.

AS I COME TO A TIME OF APPLICATION TODAY (1) I WANT TO CHALLENGE EACH OF YOU THAT ARE DISCIPLES TO UNDERSTAND THAT FULFILLING THIS MAIN MANDATE IS A MASSIVE COLLECTIVE EFFORT NOT AN INDIVIDUAL EFFORT.

* IT IS A MASSIVE EFFORT THAT SHOULD MOVE OUR LIVES TO GLORIFY AND PLEASE OUR GREAT SAVIOR BY COMMITTING OUR TIME, TALENTS AND TREASURE TO THIS GREAT EFFORT.

** BELOVED, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT A GOOD CAUSE, BUT OUR MAIN MANDATE. AND AS PEOPLE DEDICATE THEMSELVES BY TIME AND MONEY AND THEIR ABILITIES TO GOOD CAUSES AND EVEN BAD CAUSES, WE MUST DEDICATE AND REDEDICATE OUR TIME, TREASURE AND TALENTS TO THIS MOST WORTHY-ULTIMATE CAUSE AND SELL OUT!

*** BUT REALIZE IN THIS PROCESS THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE, NOR IS IT AN INDIVIDUALISTIC EFFORT, BUT A TEAM COMMISSION, A COLLECTIVE MANDATE, A BODY EFFORT.

**** AND IF YOU COULD JUST CATCH THIS VISION TODAY AND UNDERSTAND THIS PRINCIPLE TODAY, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR EFFORT.

2. AND THAT IS AND I’M GOING TO BE QUOTING JEFF REED HERE, “AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME IN OUR CULTURE, CHRISTIANITY IS VERY INDIVIDUALISTIC IN NATURE.”

* “WE UNDERSTAND THE GREAT COMMISSION TO BE A MULTIPLICATION OF INDIVIDUALS – SO WE EACH FIGURE OUT OUR OWN STRATEGY WITH OUR OWN DISCIPLES AND HOW WE’RE GOING TO GET THE JOB DONE.”

** “BUT, AS IT UNFOLDED IN ACTS, THE GREAT COMMISSION WAS A MULTIPLICATION OF BELIEVING COMMUNITIES. IT WAS A MULTIPLICATION OF CHURCHES.”

*** “THERE WAS A HARMONY AND AN ORDER TO THAT COMMUNITY THAT WAS BUILT ON A FAMILY STRUCTURE – AN EXTENDED FAMILY STRUCTURE. (WHAT WE CALL THE FAMILY OF FAMILIES, THE CHURCH).”

**** “IN OUR CULTURE, WE SEE THINGS ON MUCH, MUCH MORE OF AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. WE COME TO THESE LETTERS (PAUL’S) AND WE SORT OF GO DOWN THEM AS INDIVIDUALS.”

3. “WE DON’T THINK COMMUNITY AND COLLECTIVE AS WE MOVE THROUGH THEM. WE THINK WHAT DOES THIS TELL ME ABOUT MY OWN INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, MY OWN INDIVIDUAL STRATEGY?”

* “BUT THE LETTERS (PAUL’S) WERE ALWAYS ADDRESSED TO CHURCHES OR MEN WHO WERE A PART OF THE TEAM, FOR DOING WORK IN THE CHURCH.”

** “THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTERS (TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS) WAS TO TELL THEM HOW TO ESTABLISH THE CHURCHES AND HOW TO SET THEM IN ORDER.”

*** “WHEN WE RECOGNIZE THAT THESE WERE TOOLS THAT PAUL USED TO GET CHURCHES ESTABLISHED, IT RESHAPES HOW WE THINK ABOUT THEM.” (END QUOTE)

**** AND BELOVED AS WE SEE THE GREAT COMMISSION UNFOLD IN ACTS AND THE CHURCH EPISTLES, WE SEE THAT THE GREAT COMMISSION IS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL MANDATE, BUT A CORPORATE MANDATE.

4. THAT THE PLAN AND WISDOM OF GOD IS NOT ME, BUT US, NOT I BUT WE. IT IS COMMUNITY, THE POWER OF MANY WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.

* SO MAY WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO THAT INSTITUTION THAT GOD HAS ORDAINED TO FULFILL HIS MAIN MANDATE AND MAY WE MAXIMIZE OUR EFFORTS TO USE OUR TIME, TALENTS AND TREASURE THROUGH IT FOR THE GLORY OF CHRIST!

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