Introduction: Welcome to the final Sunday of our 29th Annual Missions Conference. Three weeks ago Ann Carter told us of the medical missionary work done by her, and her husband Louis in Africa and New Guinea. Last week Mike and Nancy Elwood told us of their work in Hungary, and throughout Europe. Today Bill and Gina Rogers have been teaching us of their outreach for Christ in Romania and now in South Carolina. All our our missionary work flows from what we call the Great Commission, which Jesus gave to the Church before he ascended into Heaven. This morning I want to focus on the details of the Great Commission.
In the NIV it reads like this:
Mat 28:19 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,
Mat 28:20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
There are four verbs in this sentence (do you remember nouns, adjectives and verbs from high school English?) A noun is a word that denotes a person, place or thing. An adjective tells us a quality of a noun. A VERB tells us what the noun actually DOES. In other words, verbs are about ACTION. There are four verbs in the Great Commission that tell us what Christ expects us to DO. These verbs are 1) go; 2) make disciples; 3) baptizing; and 4) teaching.
I. GO
This verb speaks to us about the nature of the Church, and what it means to be a Christian. The church was designed by Jesus from its beginning to be on a mission from God. The church is made of individuals, and therefore every individual Christian is on a mission from God.
John 20:21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Our word "missionary" comes from the Latin word that means "send." Jesus sent out His 12 apostles to bring the Gospel to the world. But when He sent them out, He was also sending out YOU and ME. Every Christian is a missionary, because every Christian has been sent into the world by Jesus Christ Himself.
So, we must not think of the Church as merely a mutual admiration society, or a house of worship, or a refuge from the world, or a college for the Saints. It IS those things, but over all, and under all, the Church is a missionary organization. We are on a mission from God. Our business is to GO! Jesus makes that clear at the very beginning of the Great Commission. My prayer for Wayside is that we will always see ourselves in this way.
II. The second verb is "make disciples of all nations."
In English, this sentence could mean either of two things. It could mean, "Make disciples of various individuals in every nation." Or it could mean "Make every nation into a Christian nation."
Most of us are probably used to thinking that the first interpretation is normal and correct. However, the Greek text makes it clear that Jesus was actually commanding His disciples to "Make every nation into a Christian nation."
The Greek reads: "matheiteusate panta ta ethnei." Literally "disciple all the nations." (not people IN the nations)
Matthew Henry makes the following comment on Matthew 28:19...
"...What is the principal intention of this commission? To disciple all nations. Matheteusate--Do your utmost to make the nations Christian nations. Christ the Mediator is setting up a kingdom in the world: bring the nations to be his subjects. Christ is setting up a school: bring the nations to be his scholars. Christ is raising an army for the carrying on of the war against the powers of darkness: enlist the nations of the earth under his banner."
Of course the discipling of entire nations begins with making disciples of individuals. But the goal we have in sight is not just a few disciples. We rejoice over the 50 million Christians in China. But 50 million out of a billion is only 5%.
Our goal is that so many people would turn to Christ, and so many people would live for Him, that their nations become thereby Christian nations, and that God's Word reigns.
Jesus prefaced the Great Commission by saying "All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on Earth, therefore go..." Our goal is to see the authority of Christ at work in a very substantial way in every nation on earth. Our goal is to see Communist China become Christian China. Our goal is to see Islamic Iraq become Christian Iraq. Our goal is to see Hindu India become Christian India. Our goal is to see Jewish Israel become Christian Israel. Such is the larger vision of Jesus' Great Commission.
III. The third verb is "baptizing."
We all know what baptism is. Christians do it in different ways, in various denominations. Some Christians sprinkle, some pour, some immerse. Some baptize babies, and some only baptize adults. Some baptize three times (in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost), and others only once. I don't want to defend any particular views about the mode of baptism, or the subjects of baptism this morning.
However, all Christians are agreed that baptism is an ordinance that Christ has given to His Church. He gave us church officers, elders and deacons. And He gave us two ordinances (or sacraments) to observe in our churches: the Lord's Supper and baptism.
When the peoples of the heathen nations come to Christ they must be baptized. Implied strongly in that, is that we must not only win people to Christ, but then we must help them to create new churches. We are called to be evangelists. We are also called to be church planters.
Our denomination is committed to church planting. Our presbyteries do it regularly, and we have a denominational agency to oversee church planting. The PCA starts several dozen new churches each year.
Globally, churches are being planted at an amazing rate. One of our missionary organizations, Gospel for Asia, starts 1000 new churches per year (3 or 4 every day). Christians around the world are starting 500 new churches every day. Jesus said, "I will build my church." And He really is!
IV. The fourth verb in the Great Commission is "teaching."
Jesus said, "...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
I believe our churches are trying to do this. I believe our missionaries are trying to do this. Campus Crusade for Christ has organized tens of thousands of Bible study groups on college and high school campuses. The Navigators and Intervarsity do the same. Our churches establish Bible colleges and Seminaries. Our missionaries start Bible teaching schools right along with making converts and starting churches.
But in order for teaching to be effective, there must also be a willingness to learn. Education requires both a teacher and a willing student. The truth of this concept leads me to make an important statement about the United States of America: The USA is still a vast mission field.
There is a tremendous amount of Bible teaching going on in our country, in our churches, in Christian radio, in the sale of Bibles and Christian books. But it is becoming increasingly plain that the number of receptive Bible students has been declining every year.
On May 4, 2004, the Barna Research Group released the results of its most recent survey of religious life in America. The number of American adults who never attend church has doubled in the past ten years, a growth rate of 92%, far outpacing our population growth. Both church goers, and none church goers know less and less about the Bible.
Dr. Gary Burge, New Testament professor at Wheaton College, tests incoming freshman each year for basic Bible knowledge. One third of his students did not know that Matthew was one of the Apostles, or that the Christmas story could be found in the book of Matthew. They did not know that the story of the Passover was in Exodus. 80% could not place Moses, Adam, David, Solomon and Abraham in chronological order. 80% of Americans name themselves as Christians, but most of them cannot name the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Only one third of American Christians believe the Bible to be God's infallible Word. Most American Christians are unable to name half of the ten commandments. 80% of American Christians believe that "God helps those who help themselves" is a Bible verse (actually a saying by Ben Franklin).
According to a survey taken in the Fall of 2003, only half of America's Protestant pastors believe in absolute moral truth, in the infallibility of the Bible, in the sinlessness of Jesus, in the existence of Satan, and in salvation by grace alone.
My point is that a very large percentage of American Christians are not actually Christians at all. They are Christian in name only. They have never really been born into God's family, they have not been regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, and they show that to be true by their lack of interest in God's Word. Real Christians believe in Jesus Christ, they love Him, they want to know what He said, and they try to live by His words. Christianity in America may be a thousand miles wide, but it is only half an inch deep. America is a mission field, and American Christians must evangelize HERE as well as sending missionaries to foreign nations.
CONCLUSION: There are four verbs in the Great Commission.