The Call of Disciple-Making

Join us as Pastor Tyler begins a new sermon series entitled, "Being a Disciple-Making Church" The first sermon in this series is: The Call of Disciple-Making - Matt. 28

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Well, it is uh it is a joy to be here with you this morning and to uh start this new series in discipleship. And I think what else is uh kind of fitting about starting this new series in discipleship is uh we have some special guests here uh with us this morning. Uh Pastor Mark Lowry and his wife Margaret are here. Um Pastor Mark was my pastor in high school, and he is to blame for me being a pastor today. All of my bad habits and my good ones come from him. And we're just thankful for them this morning and for being here. Uh the encouragement that they've been to Cassandra and I over the years. Um now, this is uh this is something that also is is neat about them is that Margaret's claim to fame is that she is Pastor Bob's much younger first cousin. Much younger. Did I say that right, Margaret? Yeah. Um, and so there's a connection there too, which is which is pretty cool. So we're glad they're here, and we uh invite you to greet them afterwards. Uh well we are in Matthew 28, 19 and 20, well 16 through 20, as uh Brian has read for us. And we're starting this new series on discipleship. Disciples making disciples, the purpose and the mission of the church. This is why we exist as a church to make disciples. Um, and so this morning we're gonna start with the call of disciple making. And over the next several weeks, we're gonna be hitting on different uh aspects of discipleship. And I want you to kind of see this as like um this is kind of the starting of a conversation about discipleship. It's contributing to the conversation about discipleship. We may not answer all the nuance and every angle and every uh aspect of discipleship in this series, but we uh what what our prayer is is that throughout this series that we'll be able to unpack just a little bit and cut through the noise and the confusion and in a true biblical fashion look to what the Bible says about discipleship. I did a quick search this week to see uh how many books and things have been written on discipleship, and uh I don't think any of us would be surprised. There's tens of thousands of books on discipleship, uh, and written by different denominations, different aspects, different perspectives. You know, do this in your church, and this is what discipleship is. Do that in your church, and this is what discipleship is. Uh but what my challenge to us is this let's just let's go to the Bible, okay? And we love the Bible here at Wesney, and uh let's let's just ask like, how did Jesus want us to disciple others? How does he want us to be involved as a church in discipleship? What is it that Jesus did with his disciples? What are the examples we see throughout the New Testament as to how this unfolds as discipleship unfolds throughout the starting of the uh the early church? Now, something that's also interesting is did you know that the word disciple doesn't appear in the New Testament after Acts 21? Not once. For the rest of the 20-something books of the old of the New Testament, do we see the word discipleship? But we see the concept everywhere. We see the encouragement, the instruction everywhere, although the word may not appear. So we're gonna unpack some of that over the next coming weeks. Now to kind of begin into our time here in Matthew 28. Um I want to ask you this question. Have you ever had final words with somebody before they died? I don't know, there's something about those final words with someone that become some of the most important words that we've had with that person. You hear of the passing of somebody that you know, you love, a friend, a family member, and what's what's going through your head? Usually it's, hey, what was the last thing I said to them? What's the last conversation that we had that they said to me? And there's something that's just like special about those final words. We think, hey, did I say the right thing? Did I say everything that I needed to say? Did they say everything they needed to say in those final moments? Well, let's think about this for a moment. Here are Christ's final words to his disciples. Before he ascends into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father until he then returns and collects us, his church, and reigns forever. These are his final words. And that should that should mean something to us, I think, when we come to this text. It should cause us to maybe perk up a little bit, pay extra close attention to these final words, to think contemplatively about these final words, but also to be intentional with the things that Jesus says here in these verses. See, the Great Commission, which is what these verses are, are special words for the church, as they're Christ's last words for the church. Matthew 28, 16 to 20 describes for us God's rescue plan, his mission for the world, for a world that is trapped in inescapable darkness and sin. And this becomes the final words of Jesus. And the reason why I think these are the final words of Jesus is this is the whole point of God's rescue plan from beginning to finish, from Genesis to Revelation, as we even talked about last week when we were celebrating the resurrection. But this morning we're gonna look at four elements of the call of discipleship. First, we're gonna explore going, uh the call of discipleship is going where Jesus says to go. And the second thing we're gonna look at is it's it's listening to what Jesus has to say. The third thing is it's discipling as Jesus has instructed, and fourth, it's remembering the presence of Jesus. So the first thing we see in verses 67 is this it's going where Jesus says to go. The call of discipleship. You know, these verses are interesting. Jesus tells them where to go, and they go. Look with me in verse 16. The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. He says, Go up to the mountain, I'm going to meet you there. And I wonder what he told them, what that conversation was like. If you remember, as we were talking about even last week, the resurrection of our Lord has taken place. He's been ministering for about 40 days. Tens of dozens, hundreds of people have seen and witnessed the resurrected Lord, and he turns to his disciples and says, Meet me up on that mountain over there. Did he tell them what they would encounter on that mountain? I don't know. Text doesn't tell us. I mean, at this point, they've seen Jesus appear out of nowhere, disappear, appear. At this point, they've had that conversation with Jesus, the risen Lord. He's standing before them and eating fish when he's hungry. He says, Go up on that mountain and I'm gonna meet you there. You know, being a disciple means that we we walk by faith. And Jesus says, Go, we go. We don't always know what to expect when we get there, but we go because our Lord has directed us. And I I believe that's likely what's happened here. They don't know exactly what's on that mountain, but the Lord has said go. And so their initial response is this is that they go to the mountain where Jesus directed them to go. And I think this is an important place for us to start. When it comes to being disciples ourselves, disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you are here as a Christian, you've placed your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you, you've been a Christian for five minutes, whether you've been a Christian for 90 years, this is the calling of the Christian as a disciple to make disciples. And I think it's important for us to start in this place of going where Jesus says to go, because what this reveals, I think, too, in this moment for these disciples, is this heart of submission. This heart of submission. And as we come to this conversation and we we talk about discipleship, it will be important that we come ready with a heart of submission. As we come to this conversation, because not always are we gonna know how it's going to look and pan out, but we trust the one who has said, meet me on the mountain. And so we're gonna meet Jesus on the mountain. And this is going to be important for his disciples because as we know, their own lives become very messy. And as they follow Jesus through persecution, eventually leading to a different mountain, the mountain of death, Jesus says, go to the mountain, and they go as they're directed. And why would, if you think about it this way, why would the disciples eventually be persecuted? Well, it's because of what Jesus tells them and us to do in these next following, in these following verses here. This is a life-changing moment for them and for us, the church. And so he goes on. Matthew goes on in his retelling of the account. He says in verse 17, when they saw him, so the disciples are on the mountain. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Verse 17. So just picture this, right? They're on the mountain and they're looking down, they see him coming. And some of them are like, it's Jesus, and they're and they're full of great joy. And so, what do they appropriately do? They start worshiping their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The resurrected one that they've been spending the last 40 days and plus three years with. So here he comes. And as he's coming, they appropriately worship, but some doubted. And the text doesn't really expand as to what the concept of their doubt is. Some commentators note that some doubted because they wondered if it was Jesus. Maybe their eyesight wasn't too great, and so they couldn't really see him, but others knew that it was Jesus. Um, we don't know. Some commentators expound on the fact that you know these disciples, um, some of them are doubting and they're not quite sure what's going to take place and what's going to happen. They're not fully on board yet with everything that's going on. But we get this sense, and Matthew tells us some of them are uncertain, they're doubting. And even after seeing the crucifixion and the resurrection and being with Jesus for the last four days, they're doubting. It's astounding, isn't it? Some doubted, and we talked about this last week. When presented with clear evidence of the truth, one can still have doubts. And sometimes in the Christian life, in our journey, we have experiences of doubt. We go through those seasons of doubt. So when we talk about discipleship, even specifically discipleship, some of us in this room are going to struggle with it a little bit. We may doubt. Some of us will respond in worship. But then look at what Jesus does in verse 18. So when they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. And that first few words of verse 18 was to say, Jesus came near. Jesus came near. He again comes close to those who are worshiping, but also close to those who are struggling. Jesus came near. And this is where we see the call discipleship is listening to what Jesus has to say in verse 18. Jesus came near, verse 18 says. Love that. Jesus came near. He comes into Jerusalem, as Luke tells us. Here he comes. He comes up to the cross. He comes and meets his disciples after he's risen from the dead. And here he comes near the disciples again. And then he says this he comes near and he said to them, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. What a statement to make. But just think about this statement for a moment. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. I mean, it would make you kind of perk up a little bit in that moment, right? As a disciple. Jesus shows up, comes near, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. I mean, who has authority like this? God, right? Who had power like this? God. And so in this moment, they're not just confronted with, hey, this is this is the man Jesus Christ who is who died and rose from the dead, but they're confronted with, this is God in front of me. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Jesus is saying, I am God and I am speaking. Wow. I think there are a couple things that this statement conveys. Well, there's a lot that this statement conveys. A couple things we're going to take note of. First thing is this what is about to be said should be listened to and done. God is speaking. Second thing is this. Whatever the result is, it's up to him to determine the result. He's the one with all authority. He is the one who's worthy of all worship. He is the one who controls the heavens and the earth. He is the one that's going to bring about the result of this calling he's about to give to his disciples and give to the church until he returns. So whatever the result is, it's up to Jesus to determine it. He'll make things happen his way. Nothing will happen without him allowing it, without him doing it. Every person brought into the kingdom of God is not brought in because of eloquence, not because of a program that they went to or a circumstance, but Jesus is saying it's because of me. I'm going to do it. I've got all the authority in heaven. I got all the authority on earth. The one who uses us, his church, and every individual that is part of the church in this room here this morning to bring about his rescue mission. And he's saying he's got all the authority and all the power in heaven and earth. So let's listen. Let's trust and do what Jesus is about to say. And he goes on to expound the call discipleship. Here we see in verses 19 and 20, it's discipling as Jesus has instructed. Discipling as Jesus has instructed. Again, some of the most famous, um, well-known verses in scripture, verse 19 and 20. Uh, every church that that says, you know, we're on mission for the Lord Jesus Christ is responding or reflecting on these verses, uh, so to speak. And so this morning, let's just let's just unpack what he's actually saying here for the next few moments. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you, and remember I am with you always to the end of the age. Discipling as Jesus has instructed. So as we break these verses down, many many assume that go is uh the main thrust or the main point of this context. But in fact, in the in the Greek, how it's all structured is is the is the phrase make disciples is actually the main verb or the main action taking place in these uh verses. So everything else subjects itself to making disciples in these verses. And so we want to highlight, make disciples as the main verb. The point of these verses is make disciples, the point of the church is make disciples. The point of the life of the disciples from here on out is make disciples. The point that's going to take them right to the point of death is their commitment to this mission of making disciples. Disciples making disciples. And the last thing Jesus says is make disciples. Wow. He says, make disciples of all nations. I mean, this is a big vision, right? Just think all nations. You know, here in our church, we have many nations represented. I started counting and then I gave up. And it's beautiful. And it's the way it should be. Because this is the way it's going to be for eternity. Many nations, many tongues, many tribes coming together, worshiping God together. It's like, it's like, hey, church, your your mission is to create and to get out there and to make disciples of all nations in such a way that when people look at the church, they see what it's going to look like for the rest of eternity. You know, we become this presence of the eternity of Jesus Christ here on earth. And that's beautiful. However, though, here this all nations is a um is a nod to the fact that the message of the gospel and disciple making, so just remember the context. Talking to Jewish context here, it's a nod to the fact that the message of the gospel and disciple making was not limited to the Jews, but it was open to the Gentiles. And the disciples were to actively make disciples of Gentiles. Just think about how difficult that was for them to swallow that pill. And we get some books out of the New Testament explaining to us how difficult it is for them to swallow that pill. The fact that the gospel would go now to the Gentiles, they would be grafted into the blessings of Abraham. We would all as one become the church, Gentile, Jew, Greek, everyone together, circumcised, uncircumcised. The fact that the gospel was open to everyone was completely contrary to what they were thinking and believing in their own life and in their own system within their context. But Jesus had been working on them, right? Over his ministry. He'd been explaining this, he'd be bringing this to fruition. But here, it's like in this final message, he says, everyone is going to be included in this calling. Everyone. If you know anything about the relations between Jewish and Gentile, it wasn't always good. That's a light way of putting it. This would be tough for them. But I think we can learn something from this too. That the gospel and the church is not meant to be hoarded for ourselves. This is why our mission statement as a church says this. We have it on the wall out there in the foyer. All people, all ages, all backgrounds, all struggles, all problems. And when they come to church, they need to know they're not coming to join a club, that they have to now talk a certain way, they have to now dress a certain way, act a certain way to become a part of the church. But when people come to our church, even Wesney, they should encounter Jesus. Jesus came near. Some were doubting, some were worshiping. Jesus came near and he says these words. Make disciples of all the nations. And what is this making disciples look like? Well, this is where those other words, go, baptizing them and teaching them come in, come into the picture. This idea of go and make disciples, this idea of go has um has an idea of as you are going. So wherever you are, whatever you're doing, this is now your identity and your joy to make disciples. And in a very broad sense, where you know, work, house, uh, home, church, uh, getting groceries, whatever it is, making disciples is on your heart, it's on your mind, it's a burden of yours and mine. So that's very broadly speaking, but but Jesus is very intentional as well. Think about Jesus himself. Him being our example, us being called as a church to be the ambassadors of Jesus Christ and this message of reconciliation between people and God. And just think about Jesus' own example. He was intentional with his disciples. Everything he did with them was an intentional thing. I mean, they traveled together, yes, and they enjoyed, I'm sure they enjoyed laughter and they enjoyed the ups and downs of life together, but but it was all intentional. Always intentional. And this is what Jesus is saying, wherever you're going with this intentionality, this happens to be, to summarize it for us, um, everywhere and anywhere we are. Everywhere and anywhere we are. In the car with our children, those moments of speaking the words of Jesus into our children, praying with them, speaking the words of Jesus with our with our spouse, praying with them, in those conversations with our with our neighbor, with our families. Whenever, wherever you speak the words of Jesus, whenever and wherever we pray with one another or with others, we talk about Jesus with one another or with others, we're making disciples. It happens at church on Sunday. As we encourage one another, when we ask someone, hey, how can I be praying for you? This is not limited to a program at the church. A program is a tool, but the real tool is you and me. Programs are great. I got saved at a program. As a young six-year-old at summer camp, programs are great, but sometimes we can focus too much on the programs and miss out on the people that are literally right in front of us. So he says, as you are going, you're to make disciples. What if we said this before church is over every Sunday that we're gonna ask someone how we can pray for them? What if we tried that? What if we even tried this? We took one or two minutes on a Sunday to pray for somebody, with somebody. Or we purposed to speak words of encouragement to someone before we went home, rather than words of complaint or criticism. And this is, we're gonna unpack this more and more, but this is this is the life-on-life discipleship that Jesus is talking about. And we'll talk more about this as weeks go on, but it's it's not limited to a Bible study or a discussion group. It's a it's a lifestyle and it's as you are going. It's for all of us. And the second thing he does is he is he says, so you go and you make disciples, and how do you do it? Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, he says. Baptizing them in the name of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. You know, the implication here is that evangelism leads to salvation, right? Resulting in baptism and this welcomed identification with the church. I'm now part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ through that public declaration of baptism. Yeah, I had the joy this week of having coffee with a church leader from Quebec, of a feb church just north of Montreal this week. Um, over the last 15 years, there has been amazing things going on in there, in their church and in their community. Their church would be similar to uh our size. And last year alone, get this, they baptized 70 plus new believers in Quebec. Praise the Lord, yes. Praise the Lord, just north of Montreal. And yeah, okay, it's not all gum drops and rainbows, okay? And we're gonna talk about the cross of discipleship in a few weeks. It's hard, it's difficult, but let me tell you, it's amazing to watch the Spirit of God at work. It's energizing, it's exciting, it's emotional. Jesus saving people, and this church is stepping out of their comfort zone, doing things that don't come natural in the most secularized culture in Canada. And dozens are coming to Christ and being baptized, they don't just affirm the Great Commission, but they're they're doing it. And there's a difference between affirming it and doing it. We need to make that connection. And the people, as they are going, are witnessing and sharing and learning Jesus together. They're having those difficult conversations, and he was telling me just the amazing stories of things that are happening, and he's also telling me the challenges they've had along the way. But 70 people, and this year alone, they've already baptized over 20 or 30 people. Jesus says, that's that's the great, that's the great commission. This is what you're called to do, making disciples, disciples making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, but then also teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. Teaching them to observe, verse 20, everything that I have commanded you. That's a lot. What is this? What is teaching them everything I have commanded you? Well, even just think about contextually. Last week we were talking about how he, Jesus was on the road to Emmaus with those two disciples, and what does he explain to them? How all of the scriptures are about him. Then he gets with his disciples and he reveals the same things to them because they knew, but they didn't quite understand, right? We talked about that last week. Well, well, here it is. This is this is this is what he's talking about. Teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you, everything that's about me. This is the truth of the word of God. This is the whole counsel of God's word. That's why when we preach the Bible, we preach the whole council of the Bible, and we preach it understanding the story of redemption from start to finish. As Christians and disciples ourselves, our life ambition, and we talked about this in the book of Philippians that we just wrapped up a few weeks ago, but as Christians and disciples ourselves, our ambition and goal is to pursue a joyous relationship with Jesus Christ. It's in our mission statement, too. It's to learn and to know Jesus, everything. It's to learn and to know Jesus, Philippians 3. So, disciples making disciples, we pursue and we learn Jesus. And this is the point of discipleship, of what it means to disciple, to learn and enjoy Jesus and to teach others to learn and enjoy Jesus too. There's intentionality here. This is what happens as someone is growing in sanctification as a Christian. We we joyfully pursue Jesus by deeply learning him and teaching others about him and what he said. The gospel has to be shared. Teaching about Jesus. The gospel has to be shared. This isn't teaching the law and a list of do's and don'ts, but Jesus is referencing everything I've commanded you. Just break that down. Think about all the things. How did he summarize the law? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, your neighbor as yourself. That is what we teach. It's encouraging one another to make disciples. It's sharing the gospel, it's to rub shoulders with others, our families, wherever we might be going. Discipleship. And we're gonna unpack some more specifics on that and the wise ways within our context and doing those things. But I just want to get a, I want us to get a heart for it this morning. And then the last thing he says, uh, teaching them to observe all things I've commanded you and uh and remember, verse 20. I'm with you always to the end of the age. You know, the call of discipleship is remembering the presence of Jesus. It's remembering the presence of Jesus. We're not in this alone. I am with you, he says. Jesus loved his disciples, he loved being around them. And he loves you and he loves me and he loves being around us. And and what is he, he promises, I am always with you to the end of the age. I mean, two things here: proximity. He promises to be with us, with us. Wherever we go, he's with us at work, at home, he's with us. He promises to be with us. We get this idea of his proximity to us. You can't go anywhere that Jesus isn't. We have Sunday school songs written about that, right? And then duration. You see that? It's proximity. I am with you, and then he says, always to the end of the age. So here he promises to be with us until the end of the age. He will not quit, and neither should we. Aren't you thankful that Pastor Jim didn't retire from discipling others when he turned 60? This church wouldn't exist. And he's still doing it today. In some ways, when he turned 60, he was just getting started. You're living and breathing. Jesus is still using you and wants to use you. If you're living and breathing, whether it's on the hospital bed, I know there are those online who are watching right now that haven't been able to be with us for months because of how sick they are, Jesus is using you. And it absolutely looks different at different stages of life. But we are his, he is ours, and he isn't done working on in and through you to build his kingdom. Our retirement from the Great Commission is when we're standing face to face with Jesus, and he declares, Well done, good and faithful servant. Here's what I'm gonna close with this morning. Will you pray? Will you pray? Will you start praying, if you have it already, that the Lord would bring people into your view that you can share the gospel with, that you can encourage in their faith. Will you be praying that? Will you also pray that we as a church would stay focused on the mission of making disciples? It's how we were founded, and it's how we want to continue moving forward, not allowing our comfort, not allowing our pride, our preferences, or fear to derail us. Would you pray that we would stay focused on mission as a church? And would you pray and thank the Lord Jesus for always being with us and for calling us to such an amazing calling? It's not always easy, it's not always fun, but I tell you, it is amazing and it's glorious, and the Lord is doing something through his church. Are we ready to get on board to go to that mountain that he's called us to, to make disciples all the nations as he's called us? Let's pray. Father, I pray that we would go where you want us to go, that we would listen to the words of Jesus, and we would be committed to discipleship as you've instructed us. Thank you for your promised presence as we carry out the mission that you've tasked us with. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.