The Commands of
Christ
Command # 34
Matthew 28:18-20
Tonight we end our
series on “The Commands of Christ” where we began way
back in October of 2002. As we embarked on this study I told you that in Bill
Gothard’s study of the Command’s of Jesus that he had identified 49 general
commands of Christ found in the Gospels. [The Commands of Christ: The
Curriculum of the Great Commission. (Oak Brook, Illinois:Institute in Basic Life
Priniciples, 2002).]
In
our study of the commands we
We began by looking at
the statement that Jesus made in Matthew 28:20 that we are to “teaching
them to observe all the things I have commanded.” But just
what is it that we are to teach these new believers in Christ? Some believe that we are to teach them a legalist
list of rules, the do’s and don’t, if you will. Tell them, “If you keep this list, then you will please
Christ.”
Others believe that we
should teach these believers social responsibilities. Or as one little girl said, “Jesus wants us to be nice.” But that is
hardly words to live by.
Some Christians want
to focus on social programs and social problems. And there is a place for that. Stop for
just a moment and consider things that have happened because of the influence of the
Christian church. It was evangelical Christians who led out in the abolishing of slavery
in British territory, it Christian’s who led some of the efforts to abolish child
labor and establish better working conditions for workers. It is the church that has led
to the humane treatment of the insane and the formation of orphan-ages for abandoned and
unwanted children. And as good as those things are they are not the purpose of the church.
“Despite
the efforts of evangelists, para-church ministries and local churches, the percentage of
American adults who are born again Christians is no different now than in 1982, according
to a study by the Barna Research Group. The study found that 34% of all Americans can be
identified as born again—that is, they have made a personal commitment to Jesus
Christ, and say they will go to heaven because they have confessed their sins and accepted
Christ as their savior. Among those surveyed, 62% said they had made a personal commitment
to Jesus Christ that is still important in their lives today. However, among those who
have made a commitment to Christ, only 55 percent believe they will go to heaven because
of accepting Christ as their personal savior (the basic belief in the “born
again” movement). Most of those surveyed said they would go to heaven because of
living a good life, or obeying the 10 commandments, or because all people will go to
heaven. Others who said they had made a commit-ment to Christ said they were unsure about
what will happen to them after they die.” [Reported in
Inland Northwest Christian News, March, 1990, p. 3 - www.bible.org/illus/nt/nt-125.htm]
Research study such as
the one I just read, indicate that an amazing number of Christians do not live any
differently than people who do not claim to know Christ. The Church is therefore not
making a real difference in this world because people who call themselves Christian are
not different.
Long before the corporate world caught a vision for
developing a missions statement, Jesus gave his church a missions statement that has not
changed in over 2,000 years. This mission statement outlining the core of the purpose of
the church is given in what is referred to as the “Great Commission” and is
found in Matthew 28:18-20.
“And
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth. (19) Go therefore and make disciples (matheteusate-
imperative command) of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen”
First let’s
dispel the erroneous thought that the command in this verse is that we “go.” Certainly “going”
is an essential part of carrying out the Great Commission. If we don’t go, then we
can’t tell. But the fact is that this is
not the command associated with the Great Commission. Going is assumed for all genuine
dedicated followers of Christ. The text literally says, “even as you go.” The three components of the Great Commission are;
Evangelize, Incorporate and Disciple.
First, We Are
to Evangelize.
First, Jesus says
“go, therefore and make
disciples of all nations.” The
KJV says, “teach all
nations” in fact it uses the word “teach or teaching” twice
in this passage. But the word translated “teach” in verse nineteen (mathetheusate)
literally means “make disciples.” First we have to reach them with the gospel, we
have to evangelize.
The Bible is also
clear on how this call is to be carried out. In Acts 1:8, one of the other records of the
Great Commission, Jesus says to his disciples, “But you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in
Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus says that
the church was to begin where it was and reach out in an ever widening circle of influence
until the whole world had been reached by the Gospel.
We Have A Responsibility To Reach Our Local Community
People who study
Church Growth tell us that churches can be divided into three classes. First, magnetic
– attracting more people than they lose each year to death, transfer or shift to
inactive. Second, neutral attracting
about as many people as it lose each year. Third, dying – those churches that
lose more members than it attracts each year. [Herb Miller. How
To Build a Magnetic Church. Creative
Leadership Series. (Nashville: Abington Press, 1987) p. 13]
It is not true
that liberal churches don’t grow and conservative churches grow. The fact is churches
that aggressively seek new member tend to grow, those that don’t, won’t.
Since the average
church lose 6-7% of its members each year by death, moves
So what can we do to
do a better job or reaching our Community?
You Can Invite Our
Friends. People do not come to church because we have the best looking building in
town or because we have the biggest church in town. Do you know number one greatest
reason given for any person’s decision to attend a particular church?
Statistics tell us that 70% to 90% who join any church do so due to the influence of
friend relative or acquaintance. “No amount of theological expression from the pulpit can overcome
a lack of invitational expression from the pew.”
We had very good
attendance today I believe for that very reason (we had **** visitors) and almost 50
people more than Memorial Day a year ago.
You Help Us To
Do A Better Job of Following Up On Our Visitors.
We had a plan in
corporate a ministry called the CARE ministry to follow up on our visitors. Some of you even singed up to help. But this plan
never got implemented. I accept responsibility for that and am going to ask you to help us
when we come to in the coming weeks for help in carrying out some form of this plan.
Here is what the
experts tell us about follow up visitation. “When laypersons
(some one other than staff) make a fifteen-minute visit to the
homes of first-time worship visitors with thirty-six hours, 85 % of them return the
following week. Make this visit with seventy-hours and 60% of them will return. Make it
seven days later and 15% will return. (This next part is the part that astounds
me.) The pastor making this call, rather than lay persons, cuts
the results in half.” [Miller. pp.
72-73]
We could really use
someone who would see this as their ministry much like Bro. Stan Campbell does with the
Discipleship Ministry.
So keep your ears
open for details about helping out with following up on our visitors.
We Have A
Responsibility To Help To Take the Gospel To The World.
Paul says in
Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
Charles Malik,
Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations, asked in a speech: "What
has been the greatest American contribution to the rest of the world? Has it been money?
Has it been food? Has it been medical skill? Has it been
military might? Has it been industrial know-how?" Then he answered, "The
greatest thing to come out of America has been the American missionary effort: The quiet,
selfless men and women who have left the comfort and security of their homeland to bring
the gospel of Christianity to less favored nations."
We hear about churches that are "missions-minded"
and First Baptist Church is “missions-minded, but we are more than that! Missions is
First Baptist Church’s purpose for existence.
Coca- Coca may seem to be an odd place to get mission
advise but Coca-Cola does seems to be everywhere. But how does it get there? I
think that the motto, posted in the company's headquarters, explains it, it says, “THINK GLOBALLY, BUT ACT LOCALLY.”
What this slogan is to Coke, the Great Commission is to the church.
We have made great
strides since we began “Faith Promise Mission’s Giving” in 1990. That first
year we promise $18,878.00 for the year, and in 2004 at the completion of our 15th
annual Mission’s Conference we had pledges totaling $134, 174.00. In those
intervening years we have given over 1 million dollars to missions. So while recognizing
and appreciating our progress I want us to continue to grow.
Secondly, We
Are To Incorporate.
The second thing
Jesus says that we must do is “… baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit…” In the command
to “baptize”
we see the importance of not only reaching the lost with the message of the Gospel but the
need of incorporating these new believers into the body of Christ.
This baptism not
the means by which a new believer is saved, but the means by which a new believer becomes
part of the local church.
If we are to
establish fruit that will remain we must see new believers led to an involvement in the
life of a local church.
Third, We Are
To Indoctrinate.
Although the term
“indoctrinate” often carries a bad connotation it does have to.
I personally believe
that one of the grave problems of the modern Church is that it is like the Rio Grande
River, it three miles wide and ½ inch deep. What I mean by that is, that many believers
do not know what they believe nor why. They have never been discipled.
It is for that reason
that I believe that every believer throughout his or her lifetime should see himself as a
disciple. Every believer should therefore be in the process of being discipled by someone
or involved in discipling someone else. Discipleship
is a life-long learning experience. Our Discipleship Ministry headed by Bro Stan Campbell
begins with Basic 101 – taught in a classroom setting - is an introduction to
our church for all individuals new to the church. Discipleship 201 is designed to
be a one to one presentation of a series of 13 lessons on the basics of Christianity. An
individual after completing 201 can in turn lead someone else through this level. Discipleship
301 is is to incorporate the believer into a ministry.
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